Fire service asks people to join local stations

A fire service is urging people to join their local station as it faces ongoing challenges in maintaining emergency response cover.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said each of its buildings should have about 12 firefighters who can reach the station within five minutes, with demand highest during weekday daytime hours.

"You don't need previous experience, just commitment, reliability and a willingness to learn," said group commander Paul Oliver.

"Without that support, we risk not having a fire engine available when it's needed most."

The fire service said the role was flexible and that individuals would need to offer about 50 hours of availability, fitted around other commitments.

People would be paid for incident training, would receive an annual retaining fee and would benefit from development opportunities, a healthcare plan and gym access.

A spokesperson for the service said areas including St Ives, St Neots and Cambourne, Yaxley near Peterborough, Soham and Manea all needed more firefighters.

A report from August 2023, inspecting the fire service, found that fire engines arrived to the most serious incidents within the benchmark of about nine minutes.

However, inspectors said they did not always meet the standard time of 12 minutes for rural areas.

In 2024-25, the fire service had 0.63 full-time equivalent workers per 1,000 of the population.

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