County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) will begin a recruitment drive to select a new intake of wholetime firefighters next Tuesday (January 10).
Successful applicants will be deployed to watches at fire stations across County Durham and the borough of Darlington.
CDDFRS covers an area of 2,500 square kilometres, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.
There are several stages to the recruitment process. The first stage is a series of online assessments; initial submissions must be completed by applicants no later than 9am on Monday January 16.
These online assessments will be followed by role related assessments and a formal interview, which will be held at various CDDFRS sites across the county up to Friday March 3.
Successful applicants will be invited to complete a fitness assessment and medical as well as pre-employment checks.
Chief fire officer, Stuart Errington, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to become part of a high performing fire and rescue service saving lives and working to prevent dangerous situations happening in the first place.
“Firefighters are probably best known for responding to 999 emergency calls to tackle fires but the modern day role involves a huge range of work.
“Our crews are called to deal with road traffic collisions, chemical spills, water rescue operations, flooding, animal rescues and collapsed buildings. We have also been supporting North East Ambulance Service as part of an Emergency Medical Response trial for the past year.
“During this trial CDDFRS has responded to more than 3132 calls involving cardiac arrests.”
CDDFRS will offer full firefighter training at its new state-of-the-art training centre in Bowburn, Durham.
Once qualified, firefighters will receive continued training and structured development to maximise their potential allowing them to progress into specialist roles. For those seeking managerial careers there are also opportunities to progress from wholetime firefighter to various management roles.
Recruitment opens at 9am on Tuesday, January 10, a link to the online test will be posted on the CDDFRS website at www.ddfire.gov.uk on the day. All applications must be submitted online before 9am on Monday January 16.