LONDON STANSTED AIRPORT WELCOMES NEW FIREFIGHTERS

Two women are blazing a trail at London Stansted after becoming the first female firefighters to join the ranks of the airport’s fire and rescue service.

Hannah Inggs and Amber Popham, join Finn Edwards and Charlie Fry as the first intake of London Stansted’s newly created firefighter apprentice scheme.

They will now begin a 22-week training course before joining operational duties from June.

Their training includes eight weeks at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, and 10 weeks on the job training at Stansted.

The course concludes with two weeks at the International Fire Training Centre at Teesside Airport, before completing two weeks of assessments back at Stansted.

In addition to the specialist airport firefighter course, the recruits will also be trained as community firefighters and will learn how to handle anything from house fires, floods and road traffic collisions to chemical spillages and community fire safety initiatives.

Both Inggs and Popham said they were proud to be chosen, with Inggs noting that she had been given the opportunity to “embark on a career I’ve always wanted to do.”

Head of the Stansted’s Fire and Rescue Service, Alex Adams, said: “I’m delighted to welcome our first ever apprentices into the Stansted Airport Fire and Rescue Service. We’re very proud to have them on-board and look forward to watching them grow throughout their careers.

“London Stansted’s new firefighter apprenticeship scheme will allow us to provide a route into the service for young people from a variety of backgrounds to develop as firefighters where they may not have always considered the fire service as a career before.

“The scheme also offers young people the chance to begin their career on a structured and supported programme as an alternative to going to university and is in addition to our proud track record in recruiting apprentices at the airport, particularly within our engineering and customer service teams.”

The airport is the biggest single employment site in the East of England and home to 12,000 employees.