AN open day is being planned at Fishguard Fire Station later this year in a bid to recruit more on-call firefighters.

The Head of Pembrokeshire County Command Steve Bryant met with County Councillors Wynne Evans, Myles Pepper, Pat Davies and Gwilym Price at Fishguard Fire Station last Tuesday to discuss an ongoing campaign to recruit on-call firefighters.

There are more than 700 on-call firefighters employed by Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and it needs to keep recruiting to ensure its fire engines are available in emergencies.

Councillor Evans, who is Deputy Chair of the Fire Authority, said a lack of on-call firefighters was a real concern to him.

“Many years ago everyone who lived in Fishguard and Goodwick worked in Fishguard and Goodwick. Now people are travelling further away to Haverfordwest and Milford Haven,” he said.

“Our crew commander is a postman, so even he is out of the area at certain times of the day.”

Cllr Evans added that there is a particular need for people to provide day time cover and for more women to come forward.

“I believe there are a lot of ladies in this community who would make great firefighters,” he said.

Mr Bryant said: “All stations in Pembrokeshire are available 24 hours a day and 356 days a year and that’s down to the commitment of the teams.

“But we must never rest on our laurels; we want to make sure we have enough people available.

“We need a minimum of five people to man the fire engine, but if you’ve only got five, what happens when somebody is out of the area or off sick?”

Mr Bryant explained that being on-call firefighter can open the door to other opportunities.

He said: “There are things we can offer potential recruits that maybe they don’t realise. As well as earning money for responding to a call, there is also the chance to earn money by carrying out home fire safety checks and covering shifts at other stations.”

He added that he has seen numerous occasions where on-call firefighters have gone on to secure full time employment as a firefighter.

Cllr Pat Davies said: “I work with young people in POINT. I’ll take some of this information to them and perhaps we could encourage some of them to come to the open day.”

The open day takes place between 11am and 9pm on December 2, and people are encouraged to come down to Fishguard Fire Station and find out what being an on-call firefighter involves.