Shout- stories of fire service lifesavers

Black History Month 2021 | We wanted to carry on the conversation and not limit what is an important discussion to one month of the year. So we've recorded a special Black History Month episode of Shout, the official podcast for South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue. We discussed what life is like for people of diverse backgrounds within the UK fire and rescue service.

As part of a special International Women's Day episode of Shout, we spoke to four female firefighters from our service. Chief Fire Officer, Alex Johnson, Watch Managers Caz Whiteman and Kirsty Wright and Firefighter Helena Rooke talk us through life in what has been a traditionally male dominated organisation.

This week we hear from firefighter and training instructor Gary Devonport. He talks us through a dramatic rescue from water he helped with whilst he was off duty in Wales. He describes the situation he stumbled upon and how the quick thinking of him and his team helped to save a life.

This week we speak to Julia Tonks- a member of the service’s 999 control room. Julia speaks about the crucial role control operators play in delivering life-saving fire survival guidance to people who ring 999. She also describes a specific incident when she gave advice to a woman trapped in a burning building. She talks about what she said, how she says it and what it feels like to save a life by being at the other end of a phone.

For our next episode, we speak to Joanna Hoare. She’s wanted to be a firefighter since the age of six and finally realised her dream when she joined the service seventeen years ago. She’s served at Mansfield Road, Central and Lowedges fire stations before transferring to Derbyshire earlier this year. Joanna describes an incident where she helped to save the life of someone who was going in and out of consciousness having suffered severe smoke inhalation following a house fire.