Paramedics, police officers and firefighters spent their Christmas at work

Essential workers across Townsville spent Christmas Day at work, but they still had plenty of festive spirit. Read about their Christmas.

South Townsville Fire and Rescue Service station manager Brett Ackland spent Christmas at work. Picture: Holly Fishlock.

While most of Townsville spent the holiday with family and friends, hundreds of essential workers clocked in for another day on the job.

For hundreds of professions, such as doctors, paramedics and support workers, Christmas Day is just another day at work.

South Townsville Fire and Rescue Service station manager Brett Ackland spent Christmas at work, and said the day was fairly routine.

“We did our equipment checks, which we do everyday, just to make sure everything’s ready to go if we have an incident,” Mr Ackland said.

“On any public holidays we’re always here, always ready.”

South Townsville Fire and Rescue Service station manager Brett Ackland spent Christmas at work. Picture: Holly Fishlock.

But the workers weren’t forgotten on Christmas Day, with their families organising a small celebration.

“After we finished doing our equipment checks, we started preparing a Christmas lunch, which we shared among the crew and our families,” Mr Ackland said.

With many parts of Queensland reaching temperatures of at least 30, Mr Ackland said it’s essential for firefighters to be ready for anything.

“You never really can tell when an emergency of some sort is going to happen, so it’s important that we’re ready to respond at all times,” Mr Ackland said.

But temperature isn’t the only reason firefighters were prepared, Mr Ackland said the station was particularly concerned with the rise of lithium-ion fires in phones, tablets and e-scooters.

“The frequency of incidents involving lithium-ion batteries has become more prevalent,“ Mr Ackland said.

“The most common is the amount of time people leave these items on charge. If they leave them on charge for too long, that can lead to a possible safety issue.”

Anyone needing to contact fire, police or paramedics over the holiday period are reminded to call triple-0 in an emergency.

Originally published as Paramedics, police officers and firefighters spent their Christmas at work