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‘Sorry I’m late, I was at a fire…’

By Mark Cox
November 14, 2011 at 5:09 pm

It’s not often that someone who’s late on their first day at a new job finds themselves being warmly patted on the back as they arrive. But then Paul Bodman’s new job was with the Red Cross – and he’d just spent the night volunteering for them.

Que, you ask? Let me explain: Paul volunteers for the fire and emergency support service (FESS), which involves being on-call a few days each month. That means, if someone gets caught up in a house fire or similar incident, Paul and his team – equipped with a specially adapted vehicle – will respond around the clock.

Which is exactly what happened at four am on 11 November, a few hours before Paul was due to start his new job. Undaunted, he raced to the scene and found the shaken occupants of four households – seven adults, five children and six pets – who’d been forced to flee their fire-damaged homes.

The FESS volunteers provided fresh clothing, comfort and useful advice on making insurance claims. Then they stayed at the scene until they were absolutely sure everyone had somewhere safe and warm to go to.

Paul (27), from Keynsham, has been a FESS volunteer for nine years, but was recently appointed to help co-ordinate the Red Cross’ event first aid service in Avon. He said: “As a FESS volunteer you get used to being out late, but it was quite interesting to have a call-out on my very first day in my new job. I was an hour late but my new boss let me off for good behaviour!”

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Tags: Emergencies, emergency response, fire and emergency support service, volunteer, Volunteering, volunteers

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