The new apprentice firefighters on Cohort 8.
Eight new apprentice firefighters have started training with County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.
The new recruits were chosen from hundreds of applicants following a rigorous recruitment process for the coveted role.
The apprentices have come from all walks of life and include an electrician, bricklayer, and personal trainer, as well a former critical care nurse and GB gymnast.
The cohort started their initial training on Tuesday, May 6 and over the next few weeks will shadow departments across the Service such as Fire Control, Business Fire Safety, and Community Safety teams.
In July, they will undergo risk-critical training, where they will develop essential, life-saving skills, including water rescue, trauma care, working at height, and responding to road traffic collisions.
The group are set to officially pass out as apprentice firefighters in October before starting work on fire stations across County Durham and Darlington.
Chief Fire Officer Steve Helps said: “Being a firefighter is a job like no other.
“It requires personal resilience and gives you daily opportunities to make your community a safer place to live.
“Over the next few months, our new recruits will undergo intensive training that will equip them with the skills they need to become an integral part of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and serve our communities well.
“I wish every single one of them the very best as they begin training and I know they will do themselves, their families and communities proud.”
