Elouise has been part of Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) for three years, and she fits her paid on-call firefighter cover around her nursing role within the NHS, her family, and her social life.

Like many on-call firefighters at KFRS, Elouise brings many transferable skills from her day job to her fire service position, like care and compassion, which make her a strong and valued member of her crew.

Elouise said: “I’ve always enjoyed helping people, so giving back to my community through all aspects of my work is amazing. 

“My skills from the NHS come in handy when I’m on an incident, and I’ve learnt loads from the fire service too – my crew at Cranbrook fire station all have different jobs as their primary employment and we each bring different skills to the table. When we respond to an emergency, we all work together as a team, and it works so well.

“We’re always learning. We do our training at Cranbrook station one evening a week, and for some courses we go to wholetime stations. 

“You get water rescue training, opportunities to do HGV driving, working at height qualifications, breathing apparatus training and loads more. I didn’t realise before how much you can gain by joining the on-call section.

“Anyone who thinks they’d like to an on-call firefighter, I’d say - don’t be scared to do it! I love what I do.”

The mum-of-two and step mum-of-three was inspired to join KFRS by her father, who was an on-call firefighter at Cranbrook for 15 years.

She said: “I loved it as a little girl watching him run out the door when his pager went off, and I was always interested in what he was doing. It always made me think that one day I’d really like to do it too – and here I am!”

When asked about the flexibility of the paid on-call firefighter role, Elouise said: “You have the flexibility to select the hours you’re available to fit around your lifestyle, and I usually opt for a mix of day and night cover, Friday through to Sunday, because that’s what works for me. 

“I’ve got a pager that can go off any time day or night when I’m on-call, and when it sounds, I get to the fire station and out on the fire engine within five minutes.”

 Applications close on 3 November

Nine on-call fire stations across the Weald and Mid-Kent are looking for new recruits and the deadline to apply is this Sunday, 3 November 2024. 

KFRS Group Manager James Kirk said: “The on-call firefighter role is flexible to fit around full-time work and around family and social life. There’s a set number of hours to cover each week which can be at any time throughout the day, night, or at weekends – but you work it to suit your lifestyle.

"As well as this being a rewarding opportunity to give back to your community, as part of KFRS, you’ll enjoy benefits including generous annual leave, flexible working, Blue Light Card discounts, enhanced family policies, and pension schemes – all designed to support your health and promote a positive work-life balance.

"We’re looking for people who want to make a real difference in their neighbourhood.”

 

 

The on-call fire stations currently recruiting are:

• Charing
• Aldington
• Cranbrook
• Hawkhurst
• Lenham
• Headcorrn
• Marden 
• Larkfield