RESIDENTS in Thornbury were given a first-hand look at the world of the town’s firefighters with the fire station holding an open day.

Dozens of families, and other members of the community, turned out to Thornbury Fire Station on Sunday, October 15 to find out more about the brigade.

Thornbury has no full-time firefighters with crews based at the station all with other jobs and actively on-call.

Among the popular spectacles taking place through the day were live demonstrations, with firefighters simulating real life emergencies using a practice building near the station, with the crew arriving on the scene, setting up the equipment and rushing into the smoke-filled building to put out the fire.

Representatives from all the emergency services, the coastguard, police, fire and ambulance, were all running stalls and displays throughout the day to talk to the public about what they do.

John Riddiford, Thornbury Fire Station watch manager, said: “We had a tremendous day with a good amount of visitors of all ages and backgrounds throughout the event who were able to interact with the different organisations involved and watch fire service displays.

“Hopefully our visitors were able to take away different safety messages from their experiences.”

Those interested in joining crews on a more regular basis also had the chance to find out about how they could start a second career as an on-call firefighter at the station.

For more information on becoming an on-call firefighter with Avon Fire and Rescue Service visit www.yesyoucan.careers.