My book, Embers and Echoes, follows the tense relationship between police officer Ben Fields and firefighter Toby Grimshaw. It’s an unrequited love story set in outback NSW. Both men are good at their jobs, both have integrity and the respect of the people they serve to protect in Echo Springs.

I wouldn’t say writing the romance was easy, but love doesn’t require research. Writing about two highly technical – and sometimes dangerous – professions does. I was fortunate enough to know a firefighter in WA who was happy to answer my questions on the details so here are six things I learnt about firefighters.

A firetruck isn’t a firetruck.

There are different names for different trucks so the smaller one that will go right up to the fire and has 4WD capabilities is called a light tanker. The big red truck is called a pumper and can’t go everywhere so it picks a strategic spot and coordinates a response from where it’s stationed.

There are special codes for whether a fire needs more or less resources.

Light tankers are sent out to investigate a call and depending on what they find, they’ll send back a code. So if there’s nothing but they’re still investigating, they call 44. If the fire is as reported and they have sufficient resources to fight the blaze, it’s a 66. And if it’s out of control and they need more help, it’s 88.

Dehydration is a problem.

Firefighters wear a lot of gear and they’re doing strenuous work, not to mention it’s HOT. So when they return to fill up the light tanker from the pumper, that’s their opportunity to get some water and those all-important electrolytes.

Facial hair is a big no-no.

I wanted my character to have facial hair but according to the regulations, it’s definitely frowned upon. You can have a moustache – “if you’re dirty,” my source said – but it’s got to be out of the way so that any breathing apparatus you wear can have a full seal. Long hair is also discouraged.

Houses burn fast.

An old wooden house would ‘flash over’ in minutes – which I found staggering (there’s a video below). Fire begets fire, it seems, and with today’s houses full of cheap furniture held together with glue and other accelerants, they can go pretty quick.

The helicopter is called helitax and the big ones are called Elvis.

The big Elvis style helicopters drop 7000L of foam (not water) and they can be incredibly effective. In fact, their support can mean a fire is finished within an hour, as opposed to just really on ground support. For big fires – 2nd or 3rd alarm – they’re deployed (‘turned out’) immediately rather than waiting for a tanker to investigate.

These are just some of the things I was told about being a firefighter in WA. I’m hoping that I’ve got all that right, but any errors are mine, and if you find any in the book, please don’t tell me 🙂

So you can see it’s not all about posing for calendars…

Embers and Echoes is book 2 in the Echo Springs anthology. It is available in eBook format (standalone book) or in paperback with all four Echo Springs stories.