firefighter

administrative assistant

safety officer

operations technician

control officer

London-Fire-Brigade

If your joining to fight fires and help people in distress DON'T BOTHER!!! You'll be  wasting your life. It will wreck your home life, your marriage, your family and your health.

Truth is, it's boring. 30 years (40 for new joiners) wasted where you could be happier,  more productive and more useful elsewhere...Yes there are moments of excitement and a feeling of worth but they are very, very rare and becoming increasingly less I'm afraid. You will spend most of your time putting up smoke alarms, posting Fire Safety leaflets and giving Fire Safety advice (on station, in the work place and in public), all to make yourself redundant.

The shifts are long, repetitive and tedious, you don't get many nights, weekends nor Bank holidays at home and with a young, growing family that can never be replaced. It was once a vocation, a life time career but has become yet another stepping stone to advancement elsewhere, something else to add to the CV. Wages are the equivalent to a soldier of Private rank with NO way of adding extra as overtime is casual (the odd shout that goes over change of watch) and on Bank holidays crewing is taken down to the minimum they can get away with.

You will be frustrated and strangled by government policy and pulled between job dedication and politics by the Union, which although (Officially) not a closed shop, is not worth the stick, isolation and name calling that you will receive through not being a member.

Discrimination......Oh no, don't go there! Lets just say that POSITIVE discrimination is practiced fully and with fervour in the service! 

Discipline....Expect to have disciplinary action taken against you at some stage, even for minor mistakes or misdemeanours...and it will probably be harsh! 

Think your posting will be your permanent station? Think again! You will be moved around at the "..discretion of the brigade..." on an almost weekly basis; You'll turn up for your shift at your "Home" station (Ruislip for example) and be told that you are required at Orpington and this could go on for months to cover for training, skills shortage, leave, sickness, staff suspensions or any other situation where the manning levels cannot be met, assuming they don't just take those stations off-the-run and scatter the crews to all corners of the grounds!

"Non-uniform staff"....AKA 'the tail that wags the dog', are clueless to the needs and functions of the employees whom they are supposed to 'support' and with more and more sectors being handed over to contractors (Fire appliance purchase and maintenance, fire and specialist training, uniform purchase and servicing are already in private contractors hands) then it's only going to get worse.

The "Guilt edged pension"....sorry, that's gone too; You will have to part with around 12% of your wage to pay for it, be working in an operational role until you're at least 60 and count yourself lucky if it's still there IF you live long enough to claim it!

I could drone on and on all day about why you should consider another career but the realisation of the wasted years has just sent me into depression (get yourself prepared for many bouts of that as well if you are still determined to join) so I'll leave it at that  :-(

Shift hours are at station 9.30am - 8pm and vice versa on nightshift. The shift pattern is 2 days, 2 nights, four off. You know your schedule in advance for years which is a positive and work over half your weekends which is something to consider if you have family obligations. The days can be long and typically consist of premise inspections, home fire safety visits and training on days. You do miss operational incidents due to training days where you don’t respond to calls which is highly frustrating and not a good use of resources when the training is basic/box ticking. On a more positive note they are starting training packages at the Fire Service College in Moreton. Some stations can be toxic and you struggle to get a move in some instances due to skillsets keeping you there. Can take up to 2 years to move onto full pay and living in London on £1400-1500 is challenging. There is currently no skills payments for taking on additional responsibilities (driving, fire rescue/turntable ladder etc). Not enough gloves/flash hoods (only two pairs provided) for changing PPE after incidents to avoid cancers and baby wipes to wipe down equipment with vs a proper breathing apparatus set cleaner and at least four pairs of gloves and flash hood are required for a busy station as they take weeks to come back. There is not much room for career advancement other than promotions from the firefighter level. 

There is no real pride or professionalism in advancing skills/capability with competitions, attendance of seminars and the brigade is definitely 10 years in the past with improving equipment. There is definitely a closed attitude to trying new techniques/things that work elsewhere and you’ll hear things like “that’s not the London way” if you try to use a technique you know works if you have previous firefighting knowledge from another FRS. 

Rather than ask for a safety exemption from the equality act, they are now also recruiting candidates that don’t know the difference from left and right and basic counting among other conditions and neurodiversity issues which can now be classed as a disability. When you have to follow L/R hand wall searches and count doors/floors/casualties it is a recipe for disaster in stressful fire conditions. 

There is two fitness tests (equipment carry test) during training. No runs. No circuits so a lot of newer firefighters have limited fitness and mental fortitude to understand what they are capable/incapable of. Promotion is interview and drill based so with the correct coaching and preparation prior, it is easy to pass. (No fitness/map reading/management/leadership skills). Play the game and conform to the mould and you will be fine.



The fire safety team was more like a family, providing advice and support for each other.
Typically the day would start around 7:00 hrs with emails being answered and inspections planned, legal entities evolved, corrected and produced, and advice and direction given to other staff members.
Learning was always ongoing with a high level of CPD to improve knowledge and understanding.
Firer safety was only one aspect of the role. Whilst on site inspections it was always necessary to be mindful of other issues, such as building or Health and Safety concerns, which needed to be assessed and passed to relevant Local Authority offices.
I took time to explain issues to people and was respected by the community, as well as the Fire Safety group.
The majority of the job was enjoyable with good relations built up between myself and third parties. This often resulted in the third parties calling for advice. I have managed to save time and money by pointing out simpler effective solutions to issues.
I had a good relationship with all levels of management up to and including the Assistant Commissioner for Statutory Fire Regulation.
I would often talk to the Commissioner, whom I had met during my time at the Command Support Centre where I advised, supported and facilitated all Senior Officers and Council Members.

Decent Job, has a lot of different aspects to it and you always find your self learning something new. Most of the people are pretty friendly and the management aren't bad either. There is always opportunities for promotion/advancement.

Only real negative is working weekends due to a rotating shift rota and having to do a the two 12hr shifts which at times can really drag especially on Nights. Also being situated in south Wimbledon it can be a bit difficult to get to if you live a bit further out and at times making to working for an 7.45am start can be a nightmare with public transport especially on the weekends.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Every day is different, and you meet a variety of interesting people.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working in a heated environment on a hot summers day, trying to put out a field fire or witnessing a horrific road traffic collision. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Environment is not like an office, station based life is getting to know your fire appliance and how every tool works, getting to know your colleagues in how they tick, its another family away from home.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depending on the day, a particular bit of equipment is checked on the fire appliance along with your daily Breathing Apparatus test. We also engage with the community fitting smoke alarms and providing fire safety advice.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people who work tirelessly to make the Brigade the best it can be.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The red tape. The endless levels of authorisation. You can never get anything done and the departments work against eachother because of so many conflicting priorities. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I think this depends where you work. HQ had a good culture. Although there is an expectation for senior leaders to give up their free time and work endlessly.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Hundreds of emails. A constant flow of gripes and complaints from staff. BUT working with a really supportive team who understood the priorities and the challenges.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It’s a family feeling organisation on the ground level everyone looking out for each other which keeps everyone safe .

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part it’s operation you never know what type of challenges maybe happening day to day 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone is friendly because the services operates a zero tolerance of bad behaviour from culture to culture which makes the world a better place 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
There are no typical day everyday are different from one day to the next because you never what’s happening in the community from retrieving a cat from the tree or attending a main road incident.

I usually began with data entry input. There were numerous online Fire Safety forms to complete.
I learnt that Fire Safety involves a lot more than fighting fires.It centres on educating businesses to have safe systems at work. I also learnt that HMOs or houses of multiple occupation have a strong legal duty to have fire compliant systems in place.
The managers were quite open and told you exactly what they needed done.The workplace was friendly and open. The Fire Officers were always ready to help.
The hardest part of the work was to chase up fire Officers on a particular job. The most enjoyable part of the job were the frequent gifts from an appreciative public.

Taking a lead and to make judgements across specialist Projects Management M&E maintenance services & technical designs in all projects and ensure compliance with Health & Safety Technical Memorandum in terms of management policy, Site visit, inspection, specialist crane management, Specialised works (Road Closures), working with local authorities obtaining work permeates; validation and verification, operational policy and technical guidance through and associated to CDM 2015. Also building upon Health & Safety Regulation and compliance are adhering, JCT (Joint Contracts Tribunal), Documentation, Mechanical & Electrical specification.

The LFB has given me amazing opportunities to render a humanitarian service to the public for over 26 years. I have worked in crews in central London. Attending terrorist incidents, collapsed buildings, serious and protracted fires and special services including car and rail accidents. Often our crews are the first on scene and therefore the first contact that people have after experiencing major trauma. This has given me the opportunity across three decades to comfort and assure people who face major life changing events effectively and with compassion.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Firefighter 16 salaries reported	£44,822 per year
Administrative assistant 7 salaries reported	£25,891 per year
Safety officer 4 salaries reported	£52,408 per year
Operations technician 8 salaries reported	£36,062 per year
Control officer 9 salaries reported	£41,337 per year

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