When he’s not looking after his community as a neighbourhood warden, Mark Thexton is helping to save lives as an on-call firefighter.
The Crook dad joined County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) 15 years ago after being inspired by his friends working for the Service.
The job sees Mark give up his free time outside of his Durham County Council role to respond to emergency incidents from Crook Fire Station when alerted by his pager.
The 44-year-old Crew Manager said he loves knowing he is making a difference every day.
“It is a practical job where you are always out and about and every day is different,” he said.
“I work with good people and we are a great team.
"It is a role where you are making a real difference and looking after people in your local community.”
The former prison officer said there is more to the job than people think, such as educating residents about fire safety.
“You always get an adrenaline rush when your alerter goes off because you don’t know what you are going to,” Mark said.
“People apply because they want to run into burning buildings and help people.
“You do get to do that, but there is so much more to the job that people don’t realise until they go through the application process.
“As well as attending incidents, we also do school visits and Home Fire Safety Visits.
“The school visits are always good fun and you get to meet loads of lovely people in the community when doing the home visits.
“My family is proud that I am an on-call firefighter and when I do visits to my children’s school they think it is great.”
CDDFRS is recruiting on-call firefighters at Crook Fire Station and Mark urged anyone interested to apply.
“I would say that the fitness required for the role is achievable - you don’t have to have Olympic levels of fitness,” he said.
“You are given the facilities to maintain your fitness as there is a good gym at the station and there are always people willing to help you.”
On-call firefighters are paid and the role is open to residents aged 17 years and six months who must be able to attend the station on Peases Way within five minutes.
Applicants have to commit to a minimum number of hours per week, ranging from 40 to 120, and attend weekly drill nights at the fire station to practice their skills.
They will be paid a retaining fee every six months which is based on the number of hours they have been available to respond to incidents.
They also receive an hourly rate of pay for attending incidents and carrying out activities such as hydrant inspections and community safety work.
For more information about on-call firefighter pay, click here.
To apply, click here.
Caption: On-call firefighter Mark Thexton.
