THEY are the men and women Warwick turns to after hours.

They work their full-time day jobs and spend their nights on call, waiting for a call-out.

They are our auxiliary firefighters and respond when needed.

Warwick Fire Station officer Dennis Burton said auxiliaries were an integral part of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service.

"They provide an efficient and effective service to the community in the preservation of life, property and the environment,” he said.

"Their duties include structural and environmental fires, motor vehicle entrapment, chemical spill, technical rescue, building compliance inspections and community education.”

Mr Burton said all towns within the Warwick Command had auxiliary firefighters.

"Warwick, Allora, Inglewood, Killarney, Clifton and it depends on the size of the town as to how many auxiliaries are stationed,” he said.

"In those smaller places, they run on auxiliaries alone, so they will undertake all the tasks I mentioned.

"Here in Warwick, because we have 10 permanent staff, the auxiliaries are mainly tasked with emergency response jobs.”

Mr Burton said the Warwick station was manned between 7am and 6pm.

"After that the auxiliaries are on call via a pager system.

"They respond to all emergencies after-hours,” he said.

"They are called upon to respond during the day as well, so that means they need to leave work and rush off if called upon.

"Most employers are very receptive to the fact they'll need to down tools and respond when paged.”

Auxiliary firefighters are paid and must complete a seven-step selection process to be considered for the role.

They must complete an application form, aptitude, physical and medical assessments, an interview, reference and criminal history checks.

Mr Burton said auxiliaries must be a minimum of 18 years of age.

"They need written consent from their employee to attend incidents and emergencies, given that they will often need to leave work to do so,” he said.

"They also need to live or work within a reasonable distance from the station.”

Mr Burton said auxiliaries went through intensive training.

"There's basic training like ladder skills, through to more advanced stuff like breathing apparatus and road crash rescue training,” he said.

"If anyone is interested in becoming an auxiliary firefighter, the first step would be to go to the QFES website or call the office here on 46675166.

"Every Monday night our auxiliaries have a two-hour training session, so that's a great chance to drop by and see what it's all about.”

Warwick currently has 16 auxiliaries, which is its full quota, but Mr Burton said numbers fluctuate.

"They play a very important role in society,” he said.