Sydney - Middle East Times Int’l: The Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) service has appointed a new leader with Jeremy Fewtrell being formally recognised as the state’s Commissioner.

Commissioner Fewtrell was honoured in a ceremony attended by NSW Governor Margaret Beazley and Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib at FRNSW’s Emergency Services Academy at Orchard Hills in Sydney’s west on Friday.

This ceremony also saw a new intake of 79 permanent and 193 on-call firefighters graduate and begin a journey that will see them join stations around the state.

“It takes a special type of person to dedicate their time to protecting the lives of others, and these new firefighters have been training and studying for the past 14 weeks to hone their trade,” Mr Dib said.

“The 272 firefighters graduating today come from all walks of life and I congratulate all of them on their decision to join the professional emergency service organisation that is Fire and Rescue NSW.”

Commissioner Fewtrell said the graduation ceremony represented the beginning of an exciting and rewarding career for NSW’s newest firefighters.

“A career at Fire and Rescue NSW offers so many diverse opportunities,” Commissioner Fewtrell said. “Our firefighters are ready to support our community at their time of greatest need in all sorts of ways.”

“They will conduct important prevention and education activities, as well as respond to a wide range of incidents across all of our capabilities, including technical rescues and road crashes, fire and hazardous material incidents, natural disasters like floods and bushfires, and so much more.”

“The firefighters graduating today have shown great determination, from the competitive application process to the demanding physical training, and they will go out into our communities armed with specialist skills to be prepared for anything.”