Victorian Senior Station Officer, Rob Joyce, is an experienced firefighter of many years.
According to Senior Officer Joyce, it’s not surprising for him to hear that many athletes want to become firefighters one day.
The fitness needed to become an impressive athlete mirrors the athletic requirements to become a firefighter.
“It’s very important to be fit, to be healthy, to be strong… because a lot of the stuff we do is lifting heavy equipment to either cut people out of cars, or we’re lifting ladders to put up against double storey houses that we have to go up to bring people out,” he explained.
“A lot of the stuff we do is endurance as well. If we’re wearing breathing apparatus, it’s not unusual for the guys to go in two or three times, and each time is about 30-40 minutes. You’re working under extreme conditions, you’re wearing a lot of gear which is quite heavy, plus you’re working in a heated environment.
So fitness is very important in this job.”
Senior Officer Joyce explained that, in this sense, it’s “definitely” not a surprise that athletes make some of the best firefighters.
“You need physical strength and endurance, it definitely goes a long way to being one of the main attributes you need to become a firefighter,” he said.
To become a firefighter in Australia isn’t dependent on the education one has, but more so if they can meet the specific criteria set out by the state exams.
“You’re taken on order of merit,” he said.
“When you sit the different stages to become a firefighter, there’s many different stages and you’re tested over medical, physical, academic.
You just have to meet the criteria, it’s not whether you’re based in the US or Canada.
You just have to pass those exams, and of course be an Australian citizen.”
For Senior Officer Joyce, there’s “so many different reasons” as to why he loves being a firefighter.
“I love being part of a team. Firefighting, you’re always relying on your mates. Within every fire brigade around the world, we call it a brotherhood, so you’re living with these guys,” he said.
“It’s not like a normal 9-5 job. It’s the camaraderie… the teamwork.”
“You go from one extreme to the other in our job.”
Wow, thank you so much for that exclusive insight, Senior Officer Joyce!