About the Fire Service

The main objection of the fire and rescue services in the UK is to save lives through rescue operations, minimise damage to property caused by fire and help with other services in the local communities, such as flooding, animal rescue and chemical spills.

Another very important role of the firefighter is to prevent fires and accidents from happening in the first place by giving talks, advice and training sessions this could be in schools, businesses, community groups or to members of the public.

In Suffolk and Norfolk there are approx 77 fire stations some of these will be whole time stations which means they are manned all of the time but most will be retained stations meaning for much of the time they are unmanned. If you decide to become a whole time firefighter this will obviously be your full time job, retained firefighters however normally have other occupations but when called will have an understanding that they will need to drop what they are doing and become part of the firefighting team.

Firefighting is a dangerous and demanding job that requires total dedication and team work, the selection process to become a firefighter is quite rigorous, with strict medical, physical and written tests.

To find out more about becoming a firefighter and what skills and qualifications are required, take a look at the various links which will give you further information.