Red Notice September 2025
Firefighters’ union joins call for government to take water into public ownership
The Fire Brigades Union has joined calls for the government to bring water into public ownership to ensure clean and adequate water supply firefighters need to safely tackle fires. The findings contained in the final report of the Westminster and the Welsh governments’ “Independent Water Commission”...
Strike while the weather is hot
Frieda Lurken, a climate campaigner with a background in public health, explains how firefighters can raise the alarm with the Heat Strike campaign A quick glance at recent UK headlines and you would assume that politicians are quaking in their boots as summer approaches. Spring in England the UK...
Making visible the invisible
Australian firefighters have led the way in researching and preventing exposure to PFAS, known as forever chemicals, in firefighter foams. Firefighter reports “Never tell a firefighter they can’t achieve something”. These words, uttered by Michael Tisbury of the United Firefighters Union of...
Conference round up: 2025
Every year hundreds of delegates, elected from FBU brigades across the UK, travel to the union’s annual conference to democratically decide the union’s priorities, policies, and rules. Firefighter reports on the main decisions and debates from the conference floor in Blackpool’s Imperial hotel this...
Zane’s Law Summit at Westminster: “Make toxic landfills safe!”
Campaigners calling for ‘Zane’s Law’, to protect communities from contaminated land, held a summit at the Houses of Parliament on the 11 June. The proposed law would improve transparency around historic landfill sites and clarify who is responsible for making these safe. It is named after seven-year...
Mental health: your story matters
The FBU and University of Central Lancashire are calling for all serving UK fire service staff to fill out a survey of their experiences of mental health. Rebecca Lewington, control member and FBU regional secretary for the Eastern region, explains how taking part will help build the demand for...
Crewing: countdown to disaster
When fire and rescue services send firefighters out in crews of just three on a fire engine, lives are on the line. Firefighter reports. A hotel is burning. People are still inside and need help to get out. Many of them don’t speak English as their first language and are panicking. Your crew is...
Fire leaves Home Office as government accepts Grenfell recommendations
Government responsibility for the fire and rescue service moved from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on 1 April 2025. The FBU welcomed this as an important first step to repairing the damage done to the fire and rescue service by recent governments. In a...
