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While the rest of the country tucks into their Christmas meal, or heads out for New Year's Eve, many FBU members will be keeping the public safe. Whether you’re reading this in your living room, or in the mess on your station or control room, you have a right to be proud of the work you do. This...

Spring and summer this year were both record-breaking. Droughts and high temperatures created the perfect conditions for wildfires. Meanwhile, austerity has undermined the ability of the fire service to respond and a lack of national standards means that it’s pot luck how good your local fire cover...

The fire and rescue service is at a crossroads. After 14 years of austerity, Labour has a duty to deliver for public safety. In this edition, I set out our plan on pay: for pay progression, pay equality, and a recovery from the damage done under the Conservatives. We are making good progress with...

The cover story of this edition of Firefighter will be familiar to many FBU members. In many areas, it is no longer guaranteed that there will be enough firefighters on a fire engine to safely tackle an incident. As we report in this issue, firefighters attending incidents as part of a crew of four...

Newly elected FBU general secretary Steve Wright introduces the first edition of Firefighter magazine under his leadership It’s a new era for the Fire Brigades Union. I joined the fire service in 2001, and I’ve represented members at every level of our union. It is an honour to have been elected as...

A few days before Firefighter went to print, I attended a historic meeting. For the first time in more than 20 years, the FBU has been invited to advise ministers directly on fire service policy. For years, we have warned of a postcode lottery on fire cover, caused by fragmentation and underfunding...

On Tuesday 8 October, with the new government barely 100 days old, around 1,000 firefighters gathered in central London for a national rally and lobby of parliament. It was a serious show of strength and dedication from FBU members. Our headline for the day was “rebuild our fire service”. This can...

This is the first issue of Firefighter magazine to be published under a Labour government in more than 14 years. No one working in, or paying attention to, the fire and rescue service will be oblivious to the damage done by Tory rule. As we report, only this month freedom of information requests by...

Since the last issue of Firefighter, the FBU has held our annual conference and firefighters have voted to accept a pay settlement. Before the next issue is published, the UK will have a new government. Since 2010, the fire service has lost one in five firefighter jobs and 30% of its central...

POLITICAL BALLOT As this magazine lands on doorsteps across the UK, FBU members have just a few more days to vote in the 2024 political fund ballot. Everything that happens in the fire and rescue service – cuts, pay, pensions, health and safety – is political in one way or another. We need a...