Milliseconds from ripping off my helmet and instantly ending my day, I forced myself to stop, take a breath and reassess. You’re stuck in a dark tunnel, I thought, in aroom of tunnels, in a fire service training depot under the M4 interchange to Swansea…
A few months before, applying to join the fire service had never crossed my mind. Now, disorientated and drenched in sweat, I was racing the clock to successfully complete the fifth test of seven on a long practical assessment day. Two months into the demanding fire service recruitment process, I was closer to accomplishing what tens of thousands want – and fail – to achieve each year.
Window of opportunity
Every year, fire and rescue services around the UK open their brief recruitment windows to be met with hundreds of hopeful applicants fighting for a handful of positions. In 2020, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service received 1,047 applications for just six full-time positions, and it’s a similar story across the country.
Call it an experiment or the beginning of a midlife crisis, but I decided to pause my writing career to embark on this process with Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
The physical
