Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service fire fighter celebrates passing probation in his home town Fire Station in Newark, Nottinghamshire
A firefighter has passed his probation and is now working at the Fire Station of the town where he grew up.
Ollie Beall who previously served in the army, returned home to Newark and decided to join the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
He is now operating out of the Newark Fire Station and has passed his probation process which means the diamonds he has had on his helmet for over a year have now been taken off.
"I have always wanted to get into the Fire Service," said Ollie.
"Once I got out of the army, I moved back to Newark and decided that now was the right time to join.
"In the army, I was big into my physical fitness, and that has helped me out with the Fire Service.
"It has been a natural progression.
"I started on the on-call process first.
"I thought, I like what I am doing and applied to go full-time."
Ollie said that it had been a long process with 16 weeks of training followed by having to achieve competencies to become a fully qualified firefighter.
He said that despite it being a challenge, he was loving his new career.
"Every day you come to work is different, no two days are the same," said Ollie.
"Once you have done your training course, you go into your probation period.
"The probation period depends on the individual as you have targets you have to meet, you have to achieve competencies that have to be signed off by your managers.
"You also need to do practical assessments which are assessed by your watch manager and station manager.
"Once you are signed off on all of the competencies, it is sent to human resources, you get the diamonds taken off your helmet and you are deemed competent.
"It is a lengthy process, it can take one to two years to pass your probation depending on how long it takes to achieve your competencies.
"It has taken me about 18 months to achieve this, everything has to be evidenced and there is a lot to do during the process."
Ollie said he found the paperwork to be a challenging component of his probation process.
"You can be writing multiple pages after each incident," he said.
"You get quite a few incidents and you need to stay on it.
"Paperwork is very important because there needs to be a record of everything."
Ollie has no more formal assessments and he has been deemed as a competent firefighter.
"I have to maintain my competency now, I need to keep on top of my skills and fitness.
"When your diamonds come off, it is like a driving test.
"You get the fundamentals of driving when you pass your licence but you still need to drive more to get better.
"It is still a learning process and over time my skills will be sharpened.
"I will keep learning and putting the fundamentals into practice."
"From myself and the watch manager Vince Lane, we are extremely proud of Ollie's achievements," said crew manager Dan Gloster.
"He has put the effort in and when there have been stumbling blocks, he has developed and done what was necessary.
"He has come through this process, shining.
"Ollie is a great asset to the team and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
"I am thankful that he is on board and I am hoping he will thrive here and make it a lifelong career.
"I really encourage anyone who is thinking about the role to consider this as a career.
"Our latest recruitment drive is in process, but keep an eye out for any future firefighter recruitment on our social media.
"It is a great team, it is an amazing organisation to work for, and the work really does make a difference.
"We are opening the doors to the public that want to join and follow in Ollie's footsteps."
