Glen Innes Fire & Rescue Station Captain Earl Sharman was pleased to announce the appointment of two new recruits to his team of 18 firefighters this week.
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Shane Darley and Chris Wilson are both local men who will begin their phase one firefighter recruit training at the Armidale Training Centre next month.
Mr Darley is a corrective services officer at the local Glen Innes Correctional Centre, and Mr Wilson works with Glen Innes Severn Council as part of the outdoor staff team.
As part of the terms of their appointment, they both live within five kilometres of the station and will now both be on call and available 75 per cent of the time.
"We have to guarantee a minimum staff of four blokes out the door here within eight minutes of receiving a call," said Mr Sharman
"But we understand that their family comes first and their employer comes second so it's not always possible and that's why we have so many extra boys here so we can respond."
This is the first time in two years new firefighters have been recruited at Glen Innes, and Mr Sharman said this time they received two applicants and a third has also indicated an interest.
"It is getting harder and harder to maintain our station numbers as a lot of our blokes have changed jobs, and some are now working out of town, and I think the employers are a bit more demanding on the employees and don't want them running off in the middle of the day for a couple of hours - even though it is an emergency," he said.
"But we can't operate in the country areas without this sort of service.
we can't operate in the country areas without this sort of service
- Earl Sharman - Glen Innes Fire & Rescue Station Captain
"Chris and Shane are coming to the job young, keen and highly motivated, and I've no doubt they will be a valuable asset to our station team, the community and the surrounding area."
Mr Sharman is the longest-serving firefighter on the team and at 72 years of age the oldest as well - he has been with the station for 46 years.
"We encourage our blokes to stay for a while as it costs a lot of money to set them up with uniforms and get them trained," Mr Sharman said. "Some of the senior blokes have been here 30 years."