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.
Retained Firefighter: Home Page
1. Serving Your Community
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service forms an important part of your community. We are here to protect and help whenever we are needed, and can get help to you in a very short space of time. Firefighters in particular do a whole range of jobs, varying from attending fires to helping at all sorts of incidents. They might be called to floods, road accidents or chemical spills. When an emergency happens, wouldn't you like to be able to help your friends and neighbours in a very real and practical way? You would get paid for doing it, too! If you are interested, read on...
Use the links at the bottom of the page (further information section) to navigate to additional retained recruitment articles.
2. Retained Fire and Rescue Service
Part Of A Dedicated Team
The retained fire service is a group of men and women who do ordinary jobs, but are ready to go to a “shout” the moment that a call comes. They might be builders or shopkeepers, farmers or plumbers, typists or technicians. But when the call comes, they become part of a dedicated team ready to face any emergency. They may be “part-time”, but they are trained and capable people in the front line, saving lives and making headlines.
In Demand
There is a shortage at the moment of people who will turn out and help in an emergency. This is particularly true in our small towns and rural areas because nowadays there are fewer people who live and work in their local towns and villages. You might be just the person to fill the gap.
Don’t believe everything you hear about the fire service. Firefighters come in all shapes and sizes, although it’s a tough job and you need to be fit and healthy. We are particularly keen for more women to join. So, what do you have to do to join these “ordinary” people?
3. Could You Be A Firefighter?
Where Do You Work ?
First of all, you need to live or work near to a retained fire station, because you have to be able to get there within a few minutes of a call. That’s a few hundred yards on foot or a drive of up to one mile.
Use this link to find out where your local retained fire station is located on the map. Find Your Local Retained Fire Station
Secondly, because we can’t predict when you'll be called out, you have to be flexible in your work. The chances are that you’ll be working for yourself or for a community-minded employer who can let you off from time to time.
Are You Fit For The Job ?
To apply to join the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service you don’t need any paper qualifications. You must be at least 18, with good all-round fitness. You will be asked to take a straightforward physical test as part of the process, and just as important are qualities like common sense, commitment and enthusiasm. You will get the chance to work as part of a close-knit team, and with a range of modern equipment.
How Often Will You Be Needed ?
On average, you will be called out two or three times a week for a couple of hours. If you cannot be available all the time, that’s not a problem. You can be paid for being “on call” for only part of the day or week. There is a particular shortage of people who are available during midweek working hours, so you could have evenings or weekends free if you need to, and still do a valuable and worthwhile job. If you really can’t be on call - for example because of a holiday or a deadline at work - you can “sign off”.
You will be fully trained as a firefighter and as such you need to be able to commit to the training. Click here to discover the current training schedule and activities.
What Do You Get Out Of It ?
Apart from the excitement, the challenge and the satisfaction of a job well done, you learn to be more self-reliant and confident. After all, if you can cope in a real emergency, you are ready for anything else which life might throw at you. You will meet a lot of people in your local community and earn their confidence and respect. You will also get training in the use of equipment, and in other more general skills like first aid. These will be useful to you in your main job, whatever that is. Added to all this, you get paid! You get paid a basic retainer, plus a fee for call outs and another fee for going into action. You get paid for drill nights and duties like equipment maintenance. There is also a long service bounty.
Join The Team
There is a special kind of bond among firefighters. It comes from working together as a team in conditions which can be hazardous. That helps bind you together as few other jobs could.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to join the team, contact your local fire station for further information, check out our vacancies page or use the online enquiry form.
Call in at your local station where you can talk to the people already doing the job and find out what life as a firefighter is really like.
Equal Opportunities
The Fire and Rescue Services are equal opportunities employers, committed to the principles of fairness and equality. Applications are welcomed from all men and women who meet the entry requirements. The only criteria which the Fire and Rescue Service takes into account when recruiting are those which have a direct bearing on the candidate’s ability to do the job. If you are accepted for a job in the Fire Service, you will be entitled to, and receive, equal consideration in matters of training and promotion, whether you are a man or a woman, and whatever your racial or ethnic background or marital status.
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Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service forms an important part of your community. We are here to protect and help whenever we are needed, and can get help to you in a very short space of time. Firefighters in particular do a whole range of jobs, varying from attending fires to helping at all sorts of incidents. They might be called to floods, road accidents or chemical spills. When an emergency happens, wouldn't you like to be able to help your friends and neighbours in a very real and practical way? You would get paid for doing it, too! If you are interested, read on...
Use the links at the bottom of the page (further information section) to navigate to additional retained recruitment articles.
2. Retained Fire and Rescue Service
Part Of A Dedicated Team
The retained fire service is a group of men and women who do ordinary jobs, but are ready to go to a “shout” the moment that a call comes. They might be builders or shopkeepers, farmers or plumbers, typists or technicians. But when the call comes, they become part of a dedicated team ready to face any emergency. They may be “part-time”, but they are trained and capable people in the front line, saving lives and making headlines.
In Demand
There is a shortage at the moment of people who will turn out and help in an emergency. This is particularly true in our small towns and rural areas because nowadays there are fewer people who live and work in their local towns and villages. You might be just the person to fill the gap.
Don’t believe everything you hear about the fire service. Firefighters come in all shapes and sizes, although it’s a tough job and you need to be fit and healthy. We are particularly keen for more women to join. So, what do you have to do to join these “ordinary” people?
3. Could You Be A Firefighter?
Where Do You Work ?
First of all, you need to live or work near to a retained fire station, because you have to be able to get there within a few minutes of a call. That’s a few hundred yards on foot or a drive of up to one mile.
Use this link to find out where your local retained fire station is located on the map. Find Your Local Retained Fire Station
Secondly, because we can’t predict when you'll be called out, you have to be flexible in your work. The chances are that you’ll be working for yourself or for a community-minded employer who can let you off from time to time.
Are You Fit For The Job ?
To apply to join the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service you don’t need any paper qualifications. You must be at least 18, with good all-round fitness. You will be asked to take a straightforward physical test as part of the process, and just as important are qualities like common sense, commitment and enthusiasm. You will get the chance to work as part of a close-knit team, and with a range of modern equipment.
How Often Will You Be Needed ?
On average, you will be called out two or three times a week for a couple of hours. If you cannot be available all the time, that’s not a problem. You can be paid for being “on call” for only part of the day or week. There is a particular shortage of people who are available during midweek working hours, so you could have evenings or weekends free if you need to, and still do a valuable and worthwhile job. If you really can’t be on call - for example because of a holiday or a deadline at work - you can “sign off”.
You will be fully trained as a firefighter and as such you need to be able to commit to the training. Click here to discover the current training schedule and activities.
What Do You Get Out Of It ?
Apart from the excitement, the challenge and the satisfaction of a job well done, you learn to be more self-reliant and confident. After all, if you can cope in a real emergency, you are ready for anything else which life might throw at you. You will meet a lot of people in your local community and earn their confidence and respect. You will also get training in the use of equipment, and in other more general skills like first aid. These will be useful to you in your main job, whatever that is. Added to all this, you get paid! You get paid a basic retainer, plus a fee for call outs and another fee for going into action. You get paid for drill nights and duties like equipment maintenance. There is also a long service bounty.
Join The Team
There is a special kind of bond among firefighters. It comes from working together as a team in conditions which can be hazardous. That helps bind you together as few other jobs could.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to join the team, contact your local fire station for further information, check out our vacancies page or use the online enquiry form.
Call in at your local station where you can talk to the people already doing the job and find out what life as a firefighter is really like.
Equal Opportunities
The Fire and Rescue Services are equal opportunities employers, committed to the principles of fairness and equality. Applications are welcomed from all men and women who meet the entry requirements. The only criteria which the Fire and Rescue Service takes into account when recruiting are those which have a direct bearing on the candidate’s ability to do the job. If you are accepted for a job in the Fire Service, you will be entitled to, and receive, equal consideration in matters of training and promotion, whether you are a man or a woman, and whatever your racial or ethnic background or marital status.
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Quick Links
Use these links to find out more about retained firefighting.
• Retained Firefighting - Home
• Job Profile
• Dealing with Emergencies
• Entry Requirements
• Recruitment Process
• Training
• Pay Scales
• Recruitment Awareness
• Fitness Training
• Equal Opportunities
• Further Information
• Enquire Online
• Wholetime Firefighting - Home
• Control Operators
• Support Staff
• Current Vacancies
• Retained Firefighting - Home
• Job Profile
• Dealing with Emergencies
• Entry Requirements
• Recruitment Process
• Training
• Pay Scales
• Recruitment Awareness
• Fitness Training
• Equal Opportunities
• Further Information
• Enquire Online
• Wholetime Firefighting - Home
• Control Operators
• Support Staff
• Current Vacancies
