About the firefighter role

Ask any firefighter and they will tell you it’s the best job in the world. What’s great about being a firefighter at Avon Fire & Rescue Service is the opportunity to progress your career and develop your skillset and there are so many opportunities to learn and develop.

There is so much variation to the role, each day you will be faced with something different. You can progress with promotion, but you can also diversify your role and become a specialist:

• Urban Search and Rescue
• Water Rescue 
• Fire Investigation 
• Rope Rescue

And so much more…

Our pay and benefits

Benefits include: Pension scheme, a very competitive maternity and paternity package, interest free loans, training opportunities.

Our shift patterns work well around other commitments

Firefighters have found that the work patterns allow for a better work-life balance

• Shift 1: 08:00 – 17:00 (day)
• Shift 2: 08:00 – 17:00 (day)
• Shift 3: 17:00 – 08:00 (night)
• Shift 4: 17:00 – 08:00 (night)
• 4 days off duty

Essential criteria 

• You must live in one of the areas covered by Avon Fire & Rescue Service (Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset or South Gloucestershire). You must reside at the given address and proof of this will be required at each stage of the selection process. 
• You must be aged 18 or over when the training school starts. 
• You must be physically fit and have good upper body strength.
• You don’t need any particular qualifications to become a firefighter.
• If you hold a full UK driving licence, you must have no more than 3 points on your licence. Please note that whilst owning a full UK driving licence is not part of our mandatory criteria, the expectation is that if you do not possess a full UK driving licence, then you will need to achieve this within your probationary period. You cannot become a competent firefighter without this.
• The job of a modern firefighter is far more diverse and varied than you might realise. 

If you ask most people what the role of a firefighter entails, a common answer would be ‘putting out fires’ and although that is a really important part of the role – firefighting involves so much more, including: 

Preventing 

A huge part of our work is focused on providing advice to local people about how they can keep themselves safe. It’s often said that prevention is better than cure which is why our firefighters spend a considerable amount of time visiting people’s homes, businesses and schools educating and providing fire safety advice. This type of work has and continues to play a huge part in reducing the number of people who are killed in fires each year.

Protecting 

We also take steps to keep people safe through our work in areas such as fire safety. This part of our role includes making sure businesses are meeting their legal responsibilities to reduce risk to members of the public and taking necessary action where they don’t.

Responding 

When a member of the public rings 999 and desperately needs our help we are ready to respond to a wide range of emergencies – and it’s not just fires we go to. 

Our firefighters are equipped with the skills and training needed to deal with everything from road traffic collisions, firefighting, chemical incidents, rope, water, and animal rescue, as well as provide medical care to those in need. 

Remind you of anyone? 

All of our staff are ordinary people, doing extraordinary things when they come to work. 

To be a firefighter you need to have great communication skills, you need to be driven and committed, you need to be a problem solver, you need to be physically fit but most of all you need to be someone who cares deeply about making a difference to our communities and the people we serve.  

If that sounds like you, then yes you can be a firefighter. 

Our values  

Find out more on our Vision, Mission and Values

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