The Retained Firefighter

Joining the Service as a retained firefighter offers a wealth of opportunity to work for the Service on a part time basis. It is an exciting and hugely rewarding job where you'll become a crucial member of a highly trained and tight-knit team.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service's Retained Staff are a group of women and men who, in addition to their normal jobs or careers, are on-call in their free time or respond to emergency calls from their full-time place of employment.

Local emergency services form an important part of our community. Firefighters do a whole range of jobs from attending fires to helping at all sorts of incidents. As a member of our retained fire service you 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?

And you'd get paid for doing it too.

To apply to join the service you don't need any paper qualifications. But you will need to:
• Work or live within five minutes of a fire station
• Be physically and medically fit
• Have good eyesight (unfortunately we may not be able to accept colour-blind applicants)
• Have good hearing
• Have a real interest in the fire service and helping the community of Gloucestershire.

You will also need to consider the following:

EU Driving Regulations (for those who drive for a living) - visit the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) website for more information.

EU working time directive – visit the Department for Business Enterprise & Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) website for more information

Personal Qualities
Your personal qualities are important to us. We are looking for enthusiastic women and men from all walks or life, with the common sense, compassion, tact and demeanour to deal with physically and emotionally demanding situations. You will also need to have the ability to work as part of a team.

Rewards
You will be paid a retaining fee to be available for duty starting on a trainee rate of £2,090 per annum rising to £2,786 per annum when fully competent in the role (it can take 4 years to reach this stage).

You will also be paid for each incident you attend, and to attend weekly training sessions. Your uniform and protective equipment will be provided free of charge.

Psychometric Tests

This stage requires the candidate to complete a series of written psychometric tests.

Candidates with disabilities such as dyslexia must make themselves known to the HRD team. This should also be noted on the application form so that arrangements can be made.  

Physical

If successful at the written assessment candidates will be invited to attend the physical assessment.  This is designed to assess level of physical fitness and ability to become a firefighter.  The tests are timed and consist of the following:

• A ladder climb
• Casualty evacuation
• Ladder lift
• Enclosed space
• Equipment assembly
• Equipment carry

PQA Interview

Applicants reaching this stage will then be invited to attend for interview, during which they will be assessed on their skills and experience.

Medical

All successful candidates will be required to undergo a full medical examination by the Service Occupational Health Department.

CRB & References

An offer of employment is conditional on satisfactory references and Criminal Records Bureau Clearance. 

Further information:

Please contact the HRD Team at: HR.team@glosfire.gov.uk