A BERE Alston woman joined a very select sisterhood recently when she became one of only three women in the male-dominated world of Devon fire fighting.

Lisa Viggers, 30, qualified as a firefighter in the summer and gained her place on the local retained fire crew, where she will join her husband Tony, a leading firefighter.

The nearby Yelverton station was also able to boast a woman firefighter until the recent retirement of Jeanette Glanville. The only others at present are a full-time officer at the Camel's Head station in Plymouth and another woman in Modbury, who coincidentally is also half of a husband and wife team.

Lisa is no bored housewife looking for a hobby to fill in idle hours. She is qualified in geriatric and child care, but works at the local Chelfham School seven mornings a week because it fits in with her commitments both to the family farm and her two children.

'I wanted to do something where I was helping somebody. And it's a bit of an adrenalin rush — quite exciting,' she admitted.

A vacancy arose recently, so Lisa applied and was accepted, along with another Bere Alston newcomer John Nobblett.

The requirements are fairly basic. Applicants need to demonstrate a certain level of ability with maths and English, reasonable health and fitness and a certain level of strength.

Lisa said she didn't find this last requirement onerous because she was used to farm work, but it is an important factor given the amount of equipment a modern firefighter has to carry, especially for women whose body strength may be less developed than their male counterparts.

She said it was important when working in a team that everyone pulled their weight, both literally and metaphorically — no one could expect the others to carry them 'I'm not really surprised there are so few. I'd like to see more women in it — we are getting there slowly but surely.'

Does she get a lot of stick from the guys?

'I can take it and I can give it too,' she said. 'But the guys have been really good out here.'

The basic training involves a five-day course at Plympton, followed by three weeks at Clyst St George, and the crew undertakes regular training every Tuesday evening.

There's no time to sit around once the course is completed. Lisa has been out on all the 'shouts' since the day she qualified. Most of them have been fairly routine — cars on fire, kitchens going up in flames and so on, but Lisa is not perturbed by some of the horrors she may have to face.

'I'm a very laid back kind of person really, it would take a lot to faze me,' she said. 'We've not had anything really unpleasant yet, but that's part of the job — you just have to not let it get to you.'

Members of her extended family also live on the farm, so if there is a shout, there is always someone to look after the children, who are anyway quite independent, but juggling two jobs and the family with protecting the community from fire can be very demanding.

Lisa described one particular day when the crew spent two hours pumping flood waters out of a Dimson home at 4.30 in the morning, then it was back home, feed the calves, take the children to school and go on to work at Chelfham.

Then there was another shout at 1.30, which kept the crew out until midnight and they were called out yet again at 1.30am until 8.30 when the usual day started all over again!

'And then we had fitness tests the next day,' she said. 'I passed, despite being very sleepy indeed.'

The officer in charge at Bere Alston, sub-officer Colin Shaw, has to keep six of his firefighters available in the village at all times. So there has to be a bank of people willing to be on call, if not all the time, then perhaps during office hours if they are outsiders working in the village or out-of-office hours if they're locals who don't.

And employers have to be as flexible as the firefighters, if the system is to work.

Retained firefighters are paid £1,800 a year and then £13 for the first hour of any shout. Subsequently, this drops to £5.97 per hour. 'We don't do it for the money,' said Lisa. 'The vast majority of us would do it without any money — it's a community thing.

'We'd fight very hard to keep this place open — there's Chelfham School, the primary school and various residential homes for the elderly and businesses, as well as people's houses.

'It would take quite a long time for an appliance to get here from Tavistock — about 25 minutes — and that's a long time when you're waiting for somebody, so it's essential for the village and surrounding areas.'

Lisa completed her phase two course last week, where she learnt more advanced skills, including working with breathing apparatus inside burning buildings. She is now a fully qualified member of the Bere Alston retained firefighting team.