A NEW drive to recruit more women firefighters across Oxfordshire is set to officially begin.

The fire service wants to make itself more diverse, as it currently only has 32 women in frontline roles – six per cent of the total.

When the Chief Fire Officer Simon Furlong took over in April, he said his priority was to make the service more representative of the communities it serves.

Mr Furlong said: “Women can bring a different dimension to the job.

"The competencies are the same but individuals may have a different experience. That’s why we value diversity.”

Several taster days for women have been held over recent months and will continue into 2018.

Application for full-time posts in the service will open on January 8.

Mum-of-two Rebecca Rimmer, 40, has been a firefighter for 19 years, working across the county.

She said: “You don’t have to be the Incredible Hulk or Lara Croft – I am neither.

“I like helping people and caring for people.

"I joined a station that already had female firefighters, but even so, I had never thought about the service being male-dominated.

"It’s like a second family to me. The friendship and support you receive from colleagues is amazing.”

The fire service does not just respond to fires – it is also responsible for dealing with floods and accidents on the roads, railways and in the air.

Teams are routinely called to chemical hazards and spills in Oxfordshire.

Shelley Wright, 23, is based at Wantage Fire Station and has worked for the fire service for 18 months.

She said: “I didn’t know which career path to take and couldn’t see myself in an office job and then I saw a banner for fire service recruitment.

"It was never mentioned at school as something we could do.

“When I joined the fire station there hadn’t been a woman there for five years.

"When the chief talked to me recently about being the only woman there, I had forgotten about that – I am just part of the team.”

“You do get a bit nervous when you first get alerted, but then the training kicks in.

“The main gear weights 25kg and that’s without other equipment. However, you get all the training you need and one of the advantages I have in being smaller is that I fit into windows and other places that we need to access.”

Steven Anderson, Abingdon fire station's manager, said: “Kids watch Fireman Sam, so the stereotype is there, although there is also the character Penny Morris in the Pontypandy fire brigade.

"We try to create an environment that is professional and welcoming to everyone, women included. We challenge prejudices, an example being the language that is used: we are not firemen, we are firefighters.”

For more information drop into your nearest station or visit oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/public-site/fire-service-recruitment