Features

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack reflects on the DECON campaign so far and the fight ahead When it comes to the hidden dangers of toxic contaminants in fire, it is firefighters leading the way to safety. While politicians and bosses have buried their heads in the sand, the Fire Brigades Union has...

Riccardo la Torre reflects on this year’s TUC congress and Labour conference, and explains why the FBU gets stuck in Politics intervenes regularly in our work. Cladding fires, including the Grenfell Tower fire are occurring because ministers scrapped regulations which kept people safe. Firefighters...

Barrie Clement reports on another cladding blaze that could have ended in tragedy The call came through at 2.44am. Darren Placid, sub-officer at Romford fire station in east London, thought it sounded fairly routine. There was a fire outside a high rise building in nearby Dagenham. There was a...

The final Grenfell Tower Inquiry report blamed government and construction firms. Matt Wrack commends the public inquiry for finding systemic failures and says ministers must go further After seven long years the Grenfell Tower public inquiry finally published its report, blaming the fire on the...

Will Stone listened to the speeches and spoke to firefighters at the FBU’s national rally about why they attended LEONI MUNSLOW National women’s committee, London region We want to see national standards for maternity rights that give 52 weeks of full pay for all female firefighters. Currently...

On 8 October, 1,000 firefighters gathered in Westminster for a national rally and lobby of parliament to demand urgent action from the government. Firefighter reports On a Tuesday in early autumn, politicians setting out for a routine day in Westminster were confronted with a different spectacle to...

Your cut-out-and-keep guide to Tory fire ministers Throughout the 14 years that the Conservative Party occupied 10 Downing Street, the FBU was led by one general secretary: Matt Wrack. The Tories, on the other hand, had no fewer than 11 fire ministers. All of them were part-time, and dealt with fire...

Vital humanitarian aid is stuck in customs while Palestinian firefighters face injury through lack of PPE. Helen Hague reports A fully equipped fire appliance, laden with fire kit and medicine, left Scotland bound for the Israeli-occupied West Bank earlier this summer. It was the latest donation...

Back in 1974, 30 young men gathered at Durham County Brigade to be trained as firefighters. They slept in an old appliance room, the windows boarded up for privacy, with makeshift beds and no ventilation. “Health and safety would have a fit these days,” says Ian Ferguson, who was 18 at the time....

On Tuesday 8 October, firefighters from every corner of the UK will descend on Westminster to demand that the new government delivers a fire and rescue service that is fit for the future. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack explains why. The result of the general election was a crushing blow for the...