THE first female to join Surrey Fire Brigade as a firefighter had no idea she was making history until she was being kitted out with her uniforms.

Paula Hartwell was told by the long-serving storekeeper that she was the first woman he had issued equipment to.

“I hadn’t thought about it until then,” said Paula, who lives in St John’s and recently retired after 30 years’ service. “I was the only female among 25 people during the selection process, but we were all in the same boat, all trying to become firefighters.”

Surrey was known for its tough selection criteria, setting high standards to evaluate the hundreds who applied to each recruitment advertisement.

Paula was among the seven of the 25 chosen for the brigade training course, in 1993, after a two-day process that included both mental and physical tests.

The storekeeper’s job was to ensure that he issued a formal uniform and firefighting kit that properly fitted. Although women had served in other brigades such as London for some time, there were still no fire service clothes specially made to fit them.

Paula, 20 when she joined, was previously a recreation manager at Woking Leisure Centre.

“I was mainly behind a desk at the leisure centre but liked the idea of a more-active job, something more exciting and interesting, where you don’t know what’s going to come next,” she said.

“I’ve dealt with everything from rescuing a cat from a tree to cutting people out of crashed vehicles.”

Her career took her to senior positions that saw her being in charge of the firefighters that took Surrey’s aerial ladder – one of the tallest in the UK – to join London Fire Brigade crews tackling the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

She also the county’s “DIM officer”, taking out a specialist detection, identification and monitoring unit to incidents in Surrey and beyond as a national fire service resource. “That job was a bit grim at times, as we were dealing with unknown, potentially dangerous, chemicals and badly injured casualties,” she said.

Paula’s first station was Chertsey, where she soon proved to colleagues that she could do the job. During her first night shift, she was a member of a team wearing breathing apparatus that rescued an elderly woman from a burning flat.

“I wasn’t treated any differently than any of the male members of my watch,” she said. “We all just got on with it.”

She spent seven years at Chertsey, during which Surrey Fire Brigade was renamed as Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. More and more emphasis was placed on health and safety procedures and firefighting tunics and trousers became more sophisticated and protective.

Paula has gone from wearing a cork-lined helmet painted yellow with domestic paint to a high-tech one with a visor that costs £200. Her first overtrousers were made of plastic and prone to melting in high temperatures.

At Chertsey, she qualified as a leading firefighter, a rank that was initially leading fireman and was later changed to crew commander. Her first job in that rank was at Woking Fire Station, where she served for several years before moving to roles at brigade headquarters in Reigate.

She particularly enjoyed working with vulnerable young people on the youth engagement scheme, teaching firefighting activities to help boost their confidence, resilience and aspirations.

Paula returned to Woking as a watch commander – in charge of one of the four shifts – in 2009 and in 2011 she was promoted to station commander, followed by spells in charge at Egham and Chertsey before she returned to take charge of Woking as borough commander.

He responsibilities increased to liaising with Woking Borough Council on planning matters such as the fire precautions in the town centre’s tower blocks.

Paula is married to Tony, a former Surrey firefighter with 28 years’ service who now works as a sub-officer with London Fire Brigade, based at the Kingston station. They have three daughters, Robyn, 24, Maya, 22 and Joeli, 17.

After enjoying a Christmas without the possibility of being called from her bed or a family gathering to take charge of or give advice at an incident, Paula is looking forward to a life that contrasts with her busy fire service career.

“It felt like I’d got naturally got to a point where I wanted to do something else,” she said.“I’m aiming to do something completely different.”

While considering what sort of work to pursue, and also looking for volunteering opportunities, she intends to get a puppy to help her keep active.

She and Tony are also looking forward to making more trips in their camper van.