Dozens of aspiring fire fighters put their skills to the test in Darwin and Alice Springs this weekend. Ahead of tryouts for the Northern Territory’s future firefighting force, they have been learning what it takes to do the job in Australia’s toughest climates.
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00:00Gearing up for a career on the front line.
00:08These aspiring recruits are preparing to take a physical test to qualify for a place in
00:13the Northern Territory Firefighting Training Program.
00:16I'm still nervous, so yeah, we'll see how it goes.
00:21In the punishing Territory heat, firefighting is a particularly hard job, so the test is
00:26harder too.
00:28We've got a pretty physical one in the scheme of things.
00:30A lot of other states will do a lot more competency checks, but just because of our climate we've
00:35got to be, you know, have that little bit higher fitness levels.
00:38They'll have to be able to pull heavy fire hoses and use a 20 kilogram tool known as
00:43the jaws of life to cut people from car crashes all while in protective gear.
00:49Really tough.
00:50Yeah?
00:51Yeah, extremely.
00:52But it's not just physical fitness being tested.
00:57They're also training to keep calm inside smoking buildings where they can't see a thing.
01:02A little bit nerve-wracking, but I mean, you just followed someone's voice.
01:06While firefighting may have a reputation as a male-dominated field, the service is looking
01:11to change that.
01:12We want everyone, diversity plays a massive part in our role and everyone contributes
01:16something different, so it's really good when we've got a kind of diverse team, they work
01:21really well together.
01:22A crucial job as first responders in a challenging climate.