These web pages provide a guide to recruitment and roles within RBFRS, including information on wholetime (fulltime)
and retained (reserve) firefighting, control operators, and support staff. Use the various links to navigate to the
relevant sections for further information.
Recruitment: Fire Control Operators
When someone dials 999 and asks for the Fire and Rescue Service they will be put through to a member of the
control room staff. Control operators are the first line of contact between members of the public
needing assistance and the Fire Service. They are responsible for the immediate mobilisation of crews and fire
appliances together with any specialist equipment that is required. These posts attract varying
rates of pay
which are listed in the following section of this page.
Highly trained, they utilise a range of sophisticated information technology and must be able to
react quickly, think fast and take and relay instructions accurately. Control rooms can be very busy places and staff
must be able to function well under pressure and work as part of a close-knit Watch team.
In any one shift, control operators will deal with hundreds of calls, many of which are life-threatening emergencies,
others which are less serious but still frightening or upsetting to the people involved. Control operators need to
have highly developed people and communication skills - would you be able to keep a terrified mum talking on the
phone, keeping her calm and giving her safety advice while she awaited the arrival of a fire crew? But there is a
lot more to working as a control room team member than sending fire engines out to incidents. Control operators
carry out a
wide range of other duties and must have a meticulous eye for detail. They are required
to maintain comprehensive data relating to current incidents, resources in deployment, equipment and system faults,
wholetime and retained crewing levels across the Brigade and other any relevant information. They act as a
central link between headquarters and stations, crews, officers and other staff and also deal with
queries from members of the public and the media.
In addition to their standard role, they will undertake special projects such as evaluating a new data recording
system, best practice reviews and other work with police and ambulance services.
As you can see, the life of a control room operator is a busy and very demanding one, but also varied and
immensely satisfying. You can go home after every tour of duty knowing you have helped people and made
a real difference in your community.
The table below shows salaries in the Fire Service with effect from 1st July 2007.
POSITION
ANNUAL SALARY
Firefighter (Control)
Trainee
£19,376
Development
£20,183
Competent
£25,826
Crew Manager (Control)
Development
£27,448
Competent
£28,632
Watch Manager (Control)
Development
£29,253
Competent A
£30,065
Competent B
£32,017
Station Manager (Control)
Development
£33,304
Competent A
£34,304
Competent B
£36,734
Group Manager (Control)
Development
£38,357
Competent A
£39,506
Competent B
£42,521
More senior posts attract varying rates of pay.
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