Being physically fit is crucial to being selected as a trainee firefighter. There are six physical tests you will have to complete as part of the assessment process for becoming a firefigher to find out your fitness, confidence and ability to follow instructions.
Tests confidence and your ability to follow instructions. You must climb a 13.5 metre (45 foot) ladder to a point two thirds of the full working height, take a leg lock and remove your hands from the ladder and look down to the assessor to identify a symbol placed flat on the ground at the foot of the ladder. (A leg lock is where you lock your leg over a rung of the ladder to stabilise yourself to demonstrate you can take your hands off the ladder). You will be helped if necessary by the safety officer.
Physically tests your upper and lower body strength and coordination. You will need to drag a 55kg (8½ stone) dummy backwards around a 30 metre (100 foot) course around four cones within a set time guided by a safety officer.
Physically tests your upper and lower body strength and coordination. You need to raise the bar of a ladder lift simulator weighing 30kg (4½ stone) to a height of 182cm (6 foot) helped if necessary by the safety officer.
A physical test of your confidence, agility and will help identify any claustrophobic tendencies. Wearing a breathing apparatus facemask, you will negotiate a crawl and walkway with clear vision. Halfway through the route your vision will be obscured and you will retrace your steps to the start/finish point. A safety officer will provide help if necessary and you will need to complete this in a set time.
This is a physical test of manual dexterity. You must assemble and then disassemble a portable pump within a set time following a demonstration by the safety officer.
Physically tests your aerobic fitness, stamina, upper and lower body strength and coordination. You will need to carry items of equipment over a 25 metre (82 foot) course around two cones within a set time. This is not a test of memory as the safety officer will remind applicants of the sequence of events. The equipment will be made up of one 30 metre (100 foot) hose reel tubing on a drum, two coiled 70mm soft suction hoses, one 100mm hard suction hose and suction strainer in a basket and one 33kg (5 stone) barbell.
