THE heat will be on trainee firefighters in Bury as they put their new skills to the test - on Bonfire Night.

In what is traditionally the busiest night of the year for the service, 18 recruits who have been learning a range of firefighting skills at Bury's The Rock Station, will be joining the front line for the first time over the weekend in a true baptism of fire.

The graduates will be told tomorrow about which station in Greater Manchester they will be posted to.

If their assigned watch is on duty, then the novice firemen will almost certainly be on duty on Saturday and Sunday.

Watch Manager Ian Holt, who has been putting the trainees throughout their paces at Bury for the last 13 weeks, said: "The 18 recruits have been pushed to the limit during the training course and have come through it with flying colours.

"Now, we will be quite literally be turning up the heat on the lads who will be posted to stations and many of them could find themselves on duty throughout this weekend, the brigade's busiest and most demanding weekend of the year."

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is in the middle of its biggest recruitment drive since the late 1970s.

A total of 120 new officers have been taken on with four fire stations in the county - including Bury - selected as training centres to cope with demand.

The recruits have been taught skills in basic firefighting, breathing apparatus, rope and water rescue, ladder use and working the pumps.

Having completed the training phase, they will now spend the next two years working as probationary firefighters and continue to learn new skills.

Mr Holt added: "Bonfire weekend will give the recruits their first real taste of what they can expect from their career in the fire service."

During last year's bonfire weekend, firefighters from the Bury, Ramsbottom and Whitefield stations received 49 bonfire and firework-related calls. Fourteen involved putting out bonfires that were considered to be dangerous.