Firefighters Jon-Paul Chilvers and Lee McCarron have joined County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.
From Texas to Darlington – meet Firefighter Jon-Paul Chilvers, one of our Service’s newest recruits.
The 38-year-old transferred to CDDFRS in July 2024 following a fire service career that has spanned more than a decade and has seen him work in Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire, and America.
Jon-Paul, who is originally from Lincolnshire, will bring his wealth of experience with him when he joins the crew on Darlington Red Watch.
The dad-of-one started out his fire service career with Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Service where he was an On-Call Firefighter for 11 years.
In November 2020, Jon-Paul then had the opportunity to join the United States Department of Defense, where he worked as a Firefighter for around three years.
“I went out to Texas for five months to be trained and then spent a couple of years on the bases at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, before transferring to Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service,” he said.
“I had a lot of experiences in the USA that Firefighters wouldn’t normally get exposed to because it was all special operations and stuff like that.
“I was also on medical detail for Air Force One.”
It was Jon-Paul’s love of the North East that attracted him to join CDDFRS and now he is excited to begin the next chapter of his career in the region.
“I love the North East and the friendliness of everyone,” he said.
“Lincolnshire was also a small service and CDDFRS seems like that which is nice.
“When I was a kid, I used to sit drawing fire engines and always wanted to be a Firefighter, so to get into it full time with CDDFRS is a dream come true.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Firefighter Lee McCarron, who has also transferred to the Service from Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service.
The 31-year-old from Ashington fulfilled his life-long dream of becoming a Firefighter four years ago.
Now, he is looking forward to broadening his fire service experience on Peterlee Green Watch.
Lee, whose younger brother is also a Firefighter based in Northumberland, said he can’t wait to get started.
“I have always wanted to be in the fire service,” Lee said.
“My wife is from Consett, and we have been living there for around seven years, so when the chance came up to join CDDFRS, I decided to go for it.
“I have heard good things about the Service and everyone knows each other, so that was quite appealing.
“I’m excited and looking forward to getting started.
“I have heard it is a good Watch.”
