WOULD-BE on call firefighters got a taste of life in the yellow helmet and fireproof tunic.

A steady stream of hero hopefuls tried fitness tests, a ladder climb and car smash reconstruction, as Drove Road fire station threw open its doors on Saturday in a bid to recruit more retained firefighters.

Sam Pyne of Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said extra firefighters were needed in on call sections across Swindon and Wiltshire. On call firefighters are paid a retainer, but typically have normal day jobs and will give up their free time to go out on emergency shouts.

“It’s a great way to support your community,” said Sam, 28, who is also an on-call crew manager at Malmesbury fire station.

Daniel Brown, a volunteer firefighter in Calne, was overseeing a mocked-up fitness test at Saturday’s Swindon open day. He was making potential recruits dressed in blue overalls and a hi-viz fire helmet, haul hoses and weights up and down the training ground.

The dad-of-two said of joining the fire service: “It’s a boyhood dream. I always wanted to do it. One of the kids was at school and the other at pre-school. I came home and said to the wife, ‘I’ve applied for the fire service’. She’d always known it was something I wanted to do, but it took her by surprise.

“It’s a job you can be proud of doing. It’s rewarding. You go to a house fire and, when you see the neighbours the following day, they’ll say thank you.”

Royal Wootton Bassett firefighter Matt Nailon, 46, added: “The most rewarding thing is the public’s attitude towards firefighters. There was a fire on the roof of the Co-op a couple of years ago. It was two o’clock in the morning and we’d only been there five minutes, when people were coming out with cups of tea.”

Matt, who last year was sent to help with the emergency service effort in Salisbury following the Novichok poisonings, urged people to sign up – even if they don’t think they are fit enough: “If you’ve got the ambition but you haven’t got the strength and fitness that can be sorted out. It’s a job based around attitude.”

Potential recruit Will Gage, 19, said the variety of life as a firefighter was what attracted him: “You don’t know what you’re going to get into. It’s better than sitting in an office.”

Anyone interested in being an on-call firefighter you need to live five minutes away from your local fire station, pass a host of fitness and aptitude tests, and push yourself through a smoke-filled tunnel wearing full kit and breathing apparatus. Firefighters are paid a retainer and carry a pager alerting them to emergency calls.

For more, visit: www.dwfire.org.uk.