Featherstone firefighter follows family tradition

Toby Farmer, 25, has followed a family tradition as he joins the service as an on-call firefighter after relocating from New South Wales Australia, where both his father and grandfather have spent their working lives in the fire service.

Toby, who is a team leader for a landscape gardening company, settled in Featherstone after meeting his fiancé in Japan.

He said: “For me, it was never a case of ‘if’ I’d join the fire service, but ‘when!’

"I always wanted to give something back and look after people, and to be able to do this in the community that is home to my extended family is great.”

Toby and his 11 fellow graduates are the latest to join the service following a 14-week training course at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s HQ in Birkenshaw.

There they learned skills including rescuing casualties, using firefighting equipment and working as a team.

Chief fire officer of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, John Roberts, said: “We are all very proud and impressed with West Yorkshire’s newest firefighters and I am delighted to celebrate their graduation from the 203rd trainee course.

“It is extremely encouraging to observe the attitude, determination and dedication of our trainees, as it is across the whole of the service.

"I wish every graduating firefighter a very long, happy and safe career, and that they rightly get the appreciation from the communities of West Yorkshire that they deserve.”

Featherstone Fire Station is staffed by on-call firefighters from all walks of life who offer daytime, evening and/or weekend cover in addition to their normal, day-to-day commitments.

They are not based at the station, but when on-call, must be able to reach their station within five minutes of their pager going off.

For more details about being an on-call firefighter visit https://oncall.joinwyfirefighters.com/Or call into your local station to have a chat with staff about the roles available.