WHEN Alison Kibblewhite puts on her white station commander's helmet next week, she will be the first in Wales and only the sixth woman in the UK to hold that rank.

As well as being a milestone in the history of women in the emergency services, the event also marks the culmination of years of personal hard work.

But the 36-year-old mum never intended a career as a firefighter. Until 10 years ago the petite blonde worked in a nine-to-five job for a high street bank and only stumbled upon the fire service by accident.

She says: "It was actually my brother who went to pick up an application for the fire service."

He knew I was fed up at the bank and looking for a new job and when they explained they were looking for women he picked one up for me too. "My boss at the bank said I'd never get in, but here I am."

Alison says she has never looked back. She says: "It's a great job, no day is the same."

At a time when the fire service is encouraging female recruits, Alison is a model example - a successful firefighter who has climbed the ranks without sacrificing family life.

There are now just 12 full-time women firefighters in the South Wales Fire Service, compared to 900 men. Alison says: "People still see it as a physically demanding job in a male-dominated arena.

"At the time I joined there were 2,000 applications from men and 43 applications from women.

"It has got better but we still get more applications from men." Indeed, in 1995, when Alison joined the service, she was the first full-time female firefighter in Wales. She says: "The men were apprehensive at first but once they had worked with me and knew I could do the job they were totally accepting.

"You do need a good sense of humour and to be broad minded - but there's no problem with harassment, that just isn't tolerated. You're all part of the team."

She even admits there can be advantages to being a woman firefighter. She says: "Often at house fires where people are upset they head to me, as a female, for support."

"Once we attended a kitchen fire where the only access was a tiny window, but because I was small I could get through."

As station commander at Caldicot, Alison, from Rumney, Cardiff, will be in charge of watches of around seven firefighters and is always on call for major incidents. While she obviously loves the life, she says she can understand why many women may be put off.

She says: "Being a firefighter is not a nine to five role so that could be difficult for some.

"But people have misconceptions of what we actually do. "We don't just sit around eating and drinking tea until we are called out - and we don't go to cats stuck in trees.

"We are always training, particularly since September 11, 2001. And we are very involved with the community, we work with the Prince's Trust schemes, young offenders, and schools too. "It really is a very varied, community based job."

Far from being mere tokens of political correctness, Alison and her female colleagues are every bit as tough as their male counterparts. She explains: "We have to take exactly the same physical tests as the men and have to reach the same standards as them. It is a physically demanding job and it can be tiring - but the adrenaline keeps you going." She admits the job can take its toll emotionally.

She says: "We were shown pictures of incidents during training, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing.

"My first experience was with a girl who had been pushed off a school bus and dragged along the road.

"Initially your stomach rolls, but you know you have a job to do and just get on with it.

"It's not until you come away from the scene that you actually start thinking about what you have seen."

Luckily for Alison, her husband Mark is also a firefighter and can empathise with her experiences.

She says: "He knows exactly where I am coming from, we can discuss it and he can relate. But we also have a Peer Support Group and access to counselling if needed."

With a 17-year-old daughter Kerri, and two older stepchildren, Stephen and Zoe, Alison has managed to balance home life with the demands of shift work.

She says: "As my husband also works shifts it's actually worked out well as there's normally one of us around."

So, does her daughter plan to follow in her mother's trailblazing footsteps?

"There's no chance," says Alison. "She's a hairdresser."