Morecambe fire station opens doors to would-be firefighters at special taster day

The Have a Go firefighter recruitment day in Morecambe was held as part of an inclusive recruitment drive.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service will be recruiting wholetime firefighters in March, and in accordance with their commitment to their equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, welcome female and LGBT applicants and those from black and minority ethnic groups.

As a result, anyone interested in becoming a firefighter was invited to have a go at a taster day to find out if firefighting is the career for them.

Those attending found out more about the role from firefighters, physical training instructors and the human resources team and saw the appliances and equipment for themselves.

The event in Morecambe on Sunday was well attended by 36 people, seven of them women.

All were put through their paces on a variety of activities, including the ‘ladder climb’, the ‘confined spaces’ crawl, the ‘beep test’, the ‘treadmill’, wearing a breathing apparatus cylinder and related equipment and trying on fire kit.

Several firefighters, including Morecambe’s station manager Charlene Johnston, were on hand to talk about their role to give the visitors a first-hand account of the job.

Colleagues from the Human Resources department were also at the event to advise on the recruitment process and to answer specific enquiries.

TV presenter Beccy Barr went along to ‘Have a Go’ for a feature which will be shown on the BBC on Thursday evening.