Toowoomba to get new fire recruits

Toowoomba will enjoy the services of two new firefighters after the latest intake of recruits graduated from the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy in Brisbane yesterday (Wednesday, 19 December).

Paula Douglas and Scott Teakle will undergo an induction at their new station over the next week before beginning work on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

Member for Toowoomba North Kerry Shine said the recruits had just completed 16 weeks of intense training at the Academy, giving them the skills and knowledge to serve the Queensland community as firefighters.

“These new firefighters are trained to face a diverse range of emergency situations, including structural fires, bushfires, road crashes, chemical incidents and other rescue scenarios,” he said.

“They also have the advantage of training on our state-of-the-art live fire training pad, where they learn about fire behaviour and firefighting techniques under realistic but safe conditions.

“All of this leads to greater safety for our firefighters on the job and increased safety for the community.”

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the QFRS recruit training course is one of the best in the world.

“Queensland Fire and Rescue Service staff have consistently proven their abilities,” Mr Roberts.

“The benchmark response time for responding to structural fires in urban areas is 14 minutes, but currently QFRS staff respond on average in just seven minutes and 16 seconds.

“Today’s recruits have experienced the training that will see them maintain and hopefully exceed the excellent standards our Fire Service has reached.”

The 38 recruits come from a variety of backgrounds including personal training, the police force, business ownership, the defence forces, other fire services and several trades.

Media contact: Kirby Anderson 3247 8194 or 0418 197 350