Retained firefighter.

Retained Firefighters play a vital role in today's Fire and Rescue Service, providing an efficient, cost effective and reliable service. They provide emergency cover to more than 65% of the UK.

Generally located in rural areas, the retained part of the fire and rescue service is a group of men and women who are ‘on call’ to respond to an emergency when their alerter sounds. The call could be for any incident, fire, road traffic collision, flooding, in fact they turn out for the same type of incidents as their whole time colleagues.

Having full or part time occupations when the call comes day or night, depending on the fire cover given, they have to drop everything and become part of a 19,000 firefighting team in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The majority of the general public are not aware that Retained firefighters exist, let alone that their local fire station is a Retained station.

There are many retained stations situated in urban areas providing fire cover alongside whole time stations. Some Stations are manned by whole time and retained at the same time, providing extra cover and manning different appliances.

A retained fire station usually has 1 fire appliance but there are some with 2 or more and special appliances. i.e. Turntable ladders, emergency tender, water carriers.

How do the retained work

Each member of the retained fire service is issued with a pocket alerter, which alerts them to respond after a call has been received at the fire control room. They then have 5 minutes to respond to their fire station and mobilize in the appliance required. The appliance carries the same specialist equipment as a whole time appliance.

Incidents

Call outs differ from station to station some attending over 750 calls and others as little as 50 in a year. The average call out is usually twice a week, day or night, for about two hours. However, if you have other commitments like a night out or you have to go to hospital you simply ‘sign off’ providing there is enough staff to crew the appliance.

Commitment

A fire Brigade does require commitment, offering a full rate contract of 120 hours per week. Any level of cover below 120 hours usually attracts a 75% reduced rate contract, payable of the retaining fee. In practice most Brigades define this as 80 hours per week.

Training

All retained firefighters are trained to carry out the duties of a whole time firefighter. Initial training could be carried out at the brigade training centre’s, and on station usually one night a week or weekend. This training does vary enormously from brigade to brigade.  On completion of the initial training and passing an assessment the newly retained firefighter will be able to respond to incidents. Most brigades now train in breathing apparatus wearing from the outset followed by further training. Training does not stop there, as with their whole time colleagues retained crews are constantly training providing a truly professional service to the community.

Payment

Retained firefighters receive payment for the work they do. Exactly how much varies from Brigade to brigade. The most common method is to be paid a retaining fee for the weekly hours worked. Extra fees are paid for call outs, attending to carry out community fire safety work or carrying out maintenance of equipment. With all fire authorities looking to streamline their budgets retained payments look like they will be eventually salaried, so attending for calls (regardless of how many) and drill training nights etc will all be paid on the number of contract hours worked. More information about pay here..

Community Fire Safety

The fire service has changed over recent years from a reactive to a proactive service with retained fire crews providing an essential part in that change. Retained crews attending local galas, fetes, businesses, schools and carrying out home risk assessments provide the vital link in the community, ensuring fire safety and local risk information is kept up to date.

How do I get an application form?

Call into your local fire station and ask the officer in charge. The application process will be almost identical to the whole time service for that brigade. However competition may not be as fierce with most brigades struggling to keep up their manning levels,, especially between the hours of 0900 am and 1800 pm Monday to Saturday. 

Can I transfer to the whole time?

In theory this should be easy, after all a firefighter is a firefighter and the retained system is just another duty system worked by firefighters. Some brigades have clear procedures in place to transfer competently trained retained firefighters to transfer across to a whole time position. Other brigades however do require a retained firefighter to complete the full application and training stages alongside whole time trainees.

If you have got what it takes and would like a diverse part time job providing a vital link in the community – call into your local station and ask today.

For more information try this retained firefighters blog here..