Fire service welcomes new wholetime recruits

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has welcomed 12 new recruits from across the county to its intensive training scheme.
The 12 newest wholetime firefighter recruits for West SussexThe 12 newest wholetime firefighter recruits for West Sussex
The 12 newest wholetime firefighter recruits for West Sussex

The 12 newest firefighters are the second intake of trainees to have been successful in a competitive recruitment process that ran last year.

Neil Stocker, deputy chief fire officer, said: “Our new trainee firefighters have shown sheer determination after passing the hugely competitive application process, and this mind-set will stand them in good stead for their future careers as West Sussex community firefighters.”

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The new firefighters are: Tim Batchelor, Martyn Chate and Chris Denton from Littlehampton; Shaun Beales and Gary Simmonds from Horsham; Scott Cairncross from Burgess Hill; Ric Copeland and Jordan O’Hara from East Preston; Tom Williams and Kerrie Lewis from Bognor Regis; Alex Wooding from Shoreham; and Satpal Nagi from Felpham.

They have now embarked on a comprehensive recruitment training course, conducted in-house at Horley Fire Station.

During the course, the trainees will receive a combination of practical and theoretical training to equip them with all of the skills and knowledge they need to ensure they are able to serve and protect the community.

Elements of the training will include water rescues, working at height, breathing apparatus training and community fire safety.

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Mr Stocker added: “I wish each and every one of them the very best of luck for the next 14 weeks and I look forward to seeing their hard work culminate and their pass out parade.”

This is the fourth wholetime recruitment course at West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service since the first course in eight years was announced in 2015.