Tuning in to life as a firefighter - The Worcester Observer

Tuning in to life as a firefighter

Worcester Editorial 9th Jul, 2015 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

A PAIR of radio presenters stepped into firefighters shoes in a bid to experience everything across the county.

Hursty and Helen, from Free Radio, visited Worcester Fire Station on Tuesday (June 30) as part of their A to Z of Herefordshire and Worcestershire project.

The duo have been exploring places across the two counties that represent letters of the alphabet, and they ticked off the letter ‘F’ last week.

They spent their morning at the new McKenzie Way station with one of the crews and were able to look around the new build and their impressive new training rig.




Helen took part in one of the training exercises that involved rescuing a casualty from a house fire scenario.

She was able to use the training rig and had to crawl through confined tunnels into the main area where she used a line to feel her way through the building in order to rescue the casualty.


Helen said: “I found the experience terrifying and exhilarating. I’m immensely proud to have had this experience but also in total awe of the firefighters that have do this on a regular basis at top speed with lives at stake. Total heroes.”

Hursty spent his time taking part in fitness exercises from the National Firefighter Selection Test.

He said: “That was easily the hardest physical test I’ve ever taken on. I can imagine how rewarding being a firefighter must be and I feel privileged to have seen what they do.”

Both took part in road traffic collision training where they helped the firefighters cut the roof from a car and rescue Hursty, who was pretending to be a casualty inside.

Chief Officer Mark Yates said: “Each year the Service responds to thousands of incidents that can include fires, road traffic collisions, water rescues, collapsed structures, and even animal rescues.

“The training that our firefighters undertake allows us to further prepare for these situations so we were delighted to give Hursty and Helen an idea of what being a firefighter involves.”

To find out more about Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service visit www.hwfire.org.uk.

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