In the early hours of Thursday 23rd January 1958, local firefighters arrived at the Smithfield Meat Market. By the time the blaze was finally contained, days later, two members of the London Fire Brigade were dead and a further twenty-six firefighters were hospitalised.This incident, which was instrumental in modernising firefighters' breathing apparatus and breathing apparatus procedures, proved how great things can be achieved if society learns from tragedies. We only feature the lates...
Dave O'Neill MBE retired from London Fire Brigade as AC of Special Projects in October of 2023 following an incredible career spanning 3 decades in the UK Fire & Rescue Service. In the 2021 New Years Honours he was awarded an MBE for masterminding the fire service support to the Ambulance service and PMART (the multi agency response to covid related deaths at home). He finished his career as the head of Head of Rescue/IEC/International Operations for LFB and now works as the Di...
10 June to Sunday 16 June is National Diabetes Week - Type 2 diabetes is a national health emergency in the UK. For every 1,000 employees, 82 have diabetes, 20 of these do not know they have the condition – the majority of people have no symptoms when they are diagnosed. Given how much time we spend at work, workplaces are a significant factor in our personal risk of developing type 2 diabetes and our ability to manage diabetes if we have the condition. diabetes is the leading cause of blindn...
Siobhan is a 38 year old mother of 2 and more recently a firefighter in London Fire Brigade. Whilst going through her application process she realised there was no one explicitly sharing their journey through the training process in the fire service. This is why she set up thefiremum. She wanted to create a safe space where she can share her journey, any tips along the way and allow others to ask questions.This episode was recorded at the 22nd annual Woman In The Fire Service. Women in the Fi...
Chris Westfield started his Fire service career in 2003 whereby within the same year he was involved in a near death experience operationally at what became known as the TELSTAR HOUSE fire.A 20 Pump High-rise Fire; Telstar House was located on Eastbourne Terrace, Paddington, London. It’s an office building that was constructed during the late 60’s, the building did not have a sprinkler installation and the floors are set up with open space office landscapes. London Fire Brigade mobilized 135 ...
The Welsh Firefighter Challenge is a regional sporting event run alongside The British Firefighter Challenge. It is for both serving and retired firefighters.Held annually, the Welsh Firefighter Challenge is a set of gruelling physical and mental tests designed to showcase the skills and strength of firefighters. It’s an opportunity to come together as a community, to support and celebrate each other’s achievements, and to demonstrate the professionalism and dedication of firefighters.Find ou...
At just after 22:30hrs on Monday 22nd May 2017, a suicide bomber detonated an improvised device at the Manchester Arena in the UK where around 14,000 people, mainly teenagers and family, had travelled from across the UK to attend the concert of Ariana Grande. The bomb killed twenty-two people including many children. Over one hundred were physically injured and many more suffered psychological and emotional trauma. The Manchester Arena attack was the deadliest in the UK since the London...
On this Bonus episode we joined Daisy Byron, Clare Fletcher & 160+ first responders from 31 fire and rescue services across the UK for an adventure in the peak district. hear about how this whole event came about and how to get involved yourself. You can download FREE RESOURCES HEREYou can connect with Daisy at womenwanderers999@outlook.comJoin the Facebook Page for Women Wanderers 999We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRA...
Andy Starnes joined the Fire Service in 1991. Serving 12 years as a firefighter & then Captain on an Engine Company before being assigned to Battalion Chief in a busy Metropolitan area in the United States. He retired in 2023 after 25 years.Andy’s fire behavior and thermal imaging journey began with the "Kill the Flashover Project" (Applied Science in Fire Behaviour) which was founded by his father Chief Joe Starnes. Andy serves as an SME for Thermal Imaging, consults manufact...
This mini series of 6 episodes comes from an event attended by the podcast in 2024 hosted by Lancashire Fire & Rescue and it was an IFE CPD event focussed on Structural firefighting & Tactical Ventilation lead by John McDonough & Karel Lambert. Both well respected international fire behaviour instructors.John McDonough First came on the podcast back in episode #113 and Karel Lambert is also a previous guest from episode #163. Be sure to check out their full episodes as wellY...
This mini series of 6 episodes comes from an event attended by the podcast in 2024 hosted by Lancashire Fire & Rescue and it was an IFE CPD event focussed on Structural firefighting & Tactical Ventilation lead by John McDonough & Karel Lambert. Both well respected international fire behaviour instructors.John McDonough First came on the podcast back in episode #113 and Karel Lambert is also a previous guest from episode #163. Be sure to check out their full episodes as wellY...
This mini series of 6 episodes comes from an event attended by the podcast in 2024 hosted by Lancashire Fire & Rescue and it was an IFE CPD event focussed on Structural firefighting & Tactical Ventilation lead by John McDonough & Karel Lambert. Both well respected international fire behaviour instructors.John McDonough First came on the podcast back in episode #113 and Karel Lambert is also a previous guest from episode #163. Be sure to check out their full episodes as wellY...
Andy Watt is an operational firefighter i the UK and in may of 2024 In aid of Maggie's Cancer Centres and Macmillan, Andy took on his 7th HYROX wearing full firefighter PPE including SCBA set. After weeks of tough training, Watt smashed the course in 2 hours and 9 minutes. Andy is also a professional coach developing athletes to undertake HYROX challenges among other health & fitness goals.You can find Andy on Instagram HERE You can find out more about HYROX events HEREWe only feature the...
This mini series of 6 episodes comes from an event attended by the podcast in 2024 hosted by Lancashire Fire & Rescue and it was an IFE CPD event focussed on Structural firefighting & Tactical Ventilation lead by John McDonough & Karel Lambert. Both well respected international fire behaviour instructors.John McDonough First came on the podcast back in episode #113 and Karel Lambert is also a previous guest from episode #163. Be sure to check out their full episodes as wellY...
This mini series of 6 episodes comes from an event attended by the podcast in 2024 hosted by Lancashire Fire & Rescue and it was an IFE CPD event focussed on Structural firefighting & Tactical Ventilation lead by John McDonough & Karel Lambert. Both well respected international fire behaviour instructors.John McDonough First came on the podcast back in episode #113 and Karel Lambert is also a previous guest from episode #163. Be sure to check out their full episodes as wellY...
This mini series of 6 episodes comes from an event attended by the podcast in 2024 hosted by Lancashire Fire & Rescue and it was an IFE CPD event focussed on Structural firefighting & Tactical Ventilation lead by John McDonough & Karel Lambert. Both well respected international fire behaviour instructors.John McDonough First came on the podcast back in episode #113 and Karel Lambert is also a previous guest from episode #163. Be sure to check out their full episodes as wellY...
After 31 years’ service, upon retirement from the Fire and Rescue Service in October 2023, Carl started providing organisational and leadership development, coaching and mentoring support. Carl joined North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service as a Firefighter in 1992, in 2020, Carl was appointed as the Assistant Chief Fire Officer and Director of Community Protection for Cleveland Fire Brigade, with strategic level responsibility for operations where he finished his career.Get FREE resources an...
Many of us will have sat through an interview, promotion board or similar and thought "who put this together". Despite best intentions some of them are a shambles with very little consistency and not driven by data or experience. It might be the first time that person has ever interviewed anyone and has had 30 minutes of training on how to mark the "tick sheet".These things are also resource heavy, time consuming and expensive and getting this wrong causes disengagement, damage to moral, grie...
Gerard Devine is an award-winning Irish poet who lives a life less ordinary.The former carpenter is a full-time firefighter in Dublin City.Prior to joining the fire brigade, Gerard spent many years working on the building sites of Dublin, Boston and San Francisco. He still plies his building skills by volunteering to work in third-world countries such as Africa. An animal and nature lover Gerard recently moved up into the inspiring Wicklow mountains where he lives in harmony with nature with ...
Fire station gyms are typically small and with limited kit and space you want to maximise your time, resource, budget & equipment choice, this is where TRX come in. The smartest gym is the one you already own — your body. TRX powers it by making everything else around it as challenging as you need it. Things like balance, power, stability, functionality & time under tension — everything a first responder needs to do get strong, get fast, move better than ever before not just ow but fo...
Sophie Richards
Brilliant podcast for anyone in (or looking to join) the emergency services. I've loved every episode and learnt a lot from both Pete and the guests - thanks so much for all the work you've put into producing it! 😁🙏