Name: James Linehan
Age: 19
Year Joined AF&RS: 2008
Position at AF&RS: Firefighter
Hobbies: Football and Amateur
Dramatics
Favourite Food: Lemon Meringue Pie
Favourite Drink:
Goldschläger
Why did you
want to become a firefighter? It's something I've
always wanted to do ever since I was a little'un. When
I saw they were recruiting I knew I'd be kicking myself if I
didn't at least try to get in.
Did you have any fears about becoming a
firefighter? I was only 18 and still at
college at the time I got into the Service and I'd heard
that they don't usually take on people so young, so
obviously I was a bit nervous about being treated differently. But
as soon as I started I realised this couldn't be any further
from the truth.
Did you do much physical training before joining
AF&RS? Everyone knows that being a firefighter is
a practical and can be a physically demanding job, so obviously you
have to be fit and healthy. I've always been into my football but
when I saw AF&RS were recruiting I tried to get up the gym
a lot more and do as much exercise as I could. I'd been wanting to
get into shape anyway, and it gave me the motivation to do
so.
How hard did you find training school?
Training school was hard in places. I found the written work the
most challenging and adapting to the work hours as I'd never had a
job before. As you can guess it could also be quite
physically demanding out in the drill yard with hose running
and wearing breathing apparatus. The hard work definitely pays off
though with your family and friends all coming to
your pass-out parade at the end of the 12 weeks and you
really do make some great mates - also not many
people can say they get paid to practise cutting up cars and
putting out fires!
How was your first day on shift? Naturally
I was nervous as I walked up to the fire station, but as soon as I
met my managers and everyone else there I felt like part of
the crew straight away and felt really welcome. Being part of
the team also meant I was expected to chip in just like everyone
else when we were called out to an incident and I found it
interesting to see how everyone was so friendly and such
a good laugh but as soon as those bells went down they put
their serious heads on straight away and only had the job in hand
on their minds. I sat on the back of the engine on my way to
my first shout with everything I learned from training school
whizzing round my head but everyone in the truck was really helpful
and put my mind at ease because, like they said, they've all
been in my position before!