More women from across Shropshire want to become firefighters after attending the latest taster session at a county fire station.

A total of ten toured Market Drayton fire station on Saturday to hear about how firefighting is a career choice for both men and women at Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

They were shown around fire appliances, tried on fire kit for size and put on breathing apparatus under instruction from the Market Drayton crew.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is urging residents in Shropshire to protect themselves against “the deadly threat” of carbon monoxide poisoning and ensure they have a CO alarm in the home as part of Gas Safety Week 2017 from Sept 18 to 25th

They want the public to be aware about the main symptoms of “the silent killer” often caused by a faulty boiler or cooker, blocked flue, chimney or vent.

Electric blankets can be a serious fire safety risk, warn Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, which is offering free checks at some of their county fire stations in September.

A quarter of electric blankets are condemned as dangerous after they fail the test, revealed Fire Safety Officer Alison Teece.

“Your electric blanket may appear safe, especially if it is not very old but damage to the blanket is not always visible and this can lead to it catching fire,” warned Alison.

More women are wanted as “on call” county firefighters in a continuing campaign being run by Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

With just six per cent of female firefighters, the service wants to encourage more women to join with the latest of a series of “taster” days being held at Market Drayton Fire Station on Saturday, September 16 from 9.30am to 12.30.

Watch Manager Mark Smith says: “Once the fire kit is worn, the public don’t know which are men and women, except many tend to assume they are all males, which is wrong.

Shrewsbury firefighters have been praised for their kindness in helping the “innocent child victims” of Chernobyl who visit Shropshire each year for respite.

They stepped in to pay for an extra flight ticket for Angelina, a 16-year-old girl who desperately wanted to come on the trip of a lifetime after missing out six years earlier because she had cancer.

It was a fun day out for all the family at Wellington Fire Station’s annual open day.

Children got the chance to check out the fire hoses and climb aboard a number of fire engines.

They also learned potentially lifesaving skills of how to escape from a house fire with a walk through a “smoke house,” a specially built tent used to educate them about what to do in case of a house fire.

Firefighters were on hand to give out fire prevention advice, including the necessity for every home to have one smoke alarm on each floor of the house.

People with an ambition to be an on call firefighter should go to an open day at Wellington Fire Station on August 19 and talk to firefighters.

The annual event gives everyone the chance to see what their local fire crews do and is popular as a family day out.

Firefighters will showcase their skills with a simulated car rescue and a shocking ferocious fire to show the dangers of using an old fashioned open chip pan which people still have in their kitchens.

The managing director of a long-established county firm has praised the professionalism of firefighters who fought a fire at his company HQ.

Tudor Griffiths, whose family founded the Tudor Griffiths Group over 140 years ago, said the consequences for the firm would have been more severe without the “swift containment” and management of the situation.

“I want to express my thanks and gratitude for the response and thoroughly professional way in which all members of the service performed when the incident at Wood Lane arose,” said Mr Griffiths.

Visitors to Shrewsbury fire station for the annual open day got to see how quickly firefighters react when an emergency happens.

They were watching a demonstration of the Aerial Ladder Platform when it was called to a house fire near Much Wenlock. The ALP was quickly mobilised to the scene for firefighters to help tackle a serious roof fire at a detached house at Bourton, which involved five fire appliances.

Shrewsbury Fire Station’s open day on Saturday August 5 promises to be “the best ever” with a long line-up of eye catching activities for all the family.

Visitors to Shrewsbury Fire HQ will get the chance to watch the speed in which a chip pan is engulfed in flames, see how firefighters carry out car crash rescues and how they save trapped animals.

A series of demonstrations, drills and displays involving the wide range of fire appliances, including the aerial ladder platform, will also be on offer at the Saturday event which runs from 10am to 4pm.