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Meet Chris, an On-Call Firefighter for Staveley

“I’m looking forward to making a difference to people’s lives, I’ve always been a believer of putting others first”

What made you want to become an On-Call Firefighter and join the DFRS team?

I was looking for a new challenge in life where I could make a real difference and felt this to be an ideal fit. I feel I can bring many qualities to this role such as team working, problem solving etc., but also at the same time take me out of my comfort zone.

Tell us about your journey into the role.

I initially applied online after seeing a local recruitment campaign, but also attended an awareness day at my local station in Staveley. It was a great opportunity to get a feel for what the role would entail, also to get an understanding of the entry requirements as part of the recruitment process and also great opportunity to talk with staff.

Do you have a job alongside your on-call role?

I’m currently employed with Royal Mail and have been for over 20 years now, I’ve predominately worked in IT support/development roles; I’ve become the go to person for the fleet management system I support.

I’ve been lucky recently to have management team that are very supportive of me to carry out role of being an on-call Firefighter alongside this job – they’re even supporting me to be on-call during some working hours.

I’ll also be on-call from home all the time.  

Do you have any role models that inspired you to join the service?

Does watching ‘London’s Burning’ count?

What are you looking forward to most in training?

BA (breathing apparatus) was the element I was looking forward to most as its hands on the most realistic part of the training course.

What are you looking forward to most after training and what do you think will be most challenging?

I’m looking forward to making a difference to people’s lives, I’ve always been a believer of putting others first, I think the biggest challenge going forward will be how I deal with situations that I’ve not encountered before.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I love spending time with my son, we enjoy going on holidays aboard or camping away as well as going out on adventures for the day. I’m bit of a thrill seeker I love theme parks and craziest thing I’ve done so far is go skydiving with the ‘Red Devils’, and raised over £1,600 in the process for local hospice after caring for my mum.

I don’t have any specific hobbies as such but always make the most of the time I spend with my son who has autism.

Tell us something unique about yourself.

As you can tell, I’m pretty fearless when it comes to trying anything with an adrenalin rush. 

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your journey so far?

I’m currently halfway through my training course and it’s been a great journey so far, I’ve made some new friends along the way and now I’m looking forward to passing out of training and ‘going on the run’.