The role of a firefighter
The role
There is much more to the role of firefighter than the common perception of racing to fires or road traffic collisions in a fire engine. Today the job of a firefighter is more about community safety, education, partnership working and community engagement than it is about responding when things have gone wrong and this is what takes up most of a firefighters average working day. We strongly believe that preventing fires and emergencies from happening is far better and safer than attending when an incident has already occurred. Firefighters are expected to uphold our Core Code of Ethics.
Here are a few examples of what firefighters do:
- Engage and educate people of all ages to help them to stay safe and well
- Save and preserve endangered life and provide first aid to casualties
- Contribute to the fire, home and business safety solutions to minimise danger to the community. This is done through targeted home safety checks and visits, enforcing business fire regulations, and delivering public education campaigns to prevent incidents before they happen
- Work as a team at operational emergency incidents
- Protect the environment from the effects of hazardous materials
The benefits
Become a firefighter is rewarding and varied and you’ll also enjoy:
- Gaining a professional apprenticeship qualification, without having to pay any fees
- A starting salary of £30,384 (development) to a maximum £38,881 (fully qualified)
- Opportunities to progress and specialise
- Excellent maternity package and paid paternity leave options as well as a range of different shift patterns and provisions for flexibility where possible.
- Access to a range of Staff Networks for additional support and guidance
- An excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave entitlement.
- Free gym access
- Option to join Blue Light Card which gives discounts at a range of retailers and venues.
- Access to Employee Assistance Programme which is a 24/7 helpline to assist with personal or professional problems.
See our full list of staff benefits.
Our latest recruits
Hear from some of our most recent recruits about their experience of the service so far, the training completed and why they wanted to become a firefighter.
