Retained

[Salty]

Hi,
I'm looking into applying as a retained firefighter. I'm in a position to move to any area and pick which type of station to apply to so I want to get some advice on the pro's and con's of different stations, retained, day crewed and wholetime. I have two stations I'm interested in at the moment. One is wholetime and the other is day crewed. I don't really know much about how retained guys are used in these type of stations so if anyone can give me some info that would be great!

Thanks

[kurnal]

Salty
I dont know how much you already know about the retained duty system, not all stations have retained members, so the best starting point would be to identify those with retained sections that have vacancies. You can find out about these from the brigade websites and by phoning the HQs. Then when they have a recruitment campaign attend an information evening to find out all about it.

It is usually necessary to either work or live within 5 minutes / 1 mile of the station at which you will serve so that you can attend quickly  along with others to muster a crew and to take out the appliance in an emergency. Are you aware of this? Because unless you do live or work in close proximity to the station you will not be able to join. If giving fire cover during the day (Most retained sections are crying out for day cover people and overloaded with night cover people) you will need your employers agreement to release you when there is a fire.

[Salty]

Cheers for your reply kurnal. I am aware of the things you said. The two stations I mentioned are recruiting now or due to recruit soon. I'm in the forces at the moment so when I leave in a few months I'm willing to move to the area around a specific station so that I fall within the 5 minutes catchment. Due to this I have the option to pick whether I apply to a wholetime, daycrewed or retained station and that's why I want to get as much info as possible.
With regards to cover I will be able to offer any cover they want and am more than willing to give the full 120 hours commitment

[kurnal]

Great. I guess you will want to go to as many incidents as possible, stations all vary, with some retained sections its first come first served so can be very frustrating for those who live/ work further away, or simply dont want to break the road traffic act in tearing into the station. Other units share it out as far as possible by having a duty crew arrangement. Some stations have more applances or special appliances such as water carriers, salvage tenders, rescue tenders etc so there is a better chance of attending a range of incidents where there is a range of special appliances on station, though often these only have a crew of two.

So these are all questions to ask, you also need to know how the duty system works on each station, do they mix wholetime and retained crews, how many turnouts does the retained section achieve per year, the fulltime station will get the most calls but the second (retained) appliance may be used very little, at least the retained station will turn the retained crew out for every call. Do the stations pay a retaining fee plus turnout and attendance fees or is it a flat rate? What night is drill night- is it convenient? Can you give day cover- will your employer release you?

Theres a few bits and pieces to start the ball rolling. Good luck.

[Salty]

Thanks. They are great questions and I'll definately be trying to find out the answers to the ones I don't already know. What you said about the wholetime station is exactly my worry. I don't suppose you know how the shifts usually work in day crewed stations? The station I'm looking at has 2 wholetime crews of 10 firefighters apparently and 1 retained crew

[kurnal]

They vary but most are 4 12 hour (ish) days on and 4 off, the fulltimers usually revert to retained mode during the night, some ride mixed crews and turn out on a first come first served basis, others are strictly first pump fulltime crew second pump retained crew (usually only when it suits tho!)

[Midland Retty]

Hiya Salty

Just to add to Kurnals advice...

Bear in mind that providing retained cover can be a very big commitment and can impact heavily on your social and personal life.

Firstly you must attend initial recruit training - most brigades train their retained in the same way as wholetimers nowadays which means a you could spend a total of 9 weeks at training school ( This is spread over a couple of years) It may not sound like much but it can soon eat into any annual leave you get with a full time employer. In other words it could mean no holidays for a while if you want to get your training done, and be classed as a competent firefighter.

There is always community fire safety work to be done, drill nights, additional training nights from time to time, station cleaning, weekly equipment checks and routines, weekend events such as fetes, galas etc to attend.

Plus you might get called out early in the morning and have to get up the next morning to do your full time job knowing that you also have to be back on call the next night and do station routines. Some weeks it can feel that you live at the station.
 
At some stations staffing levels maybe so low that you will find yourself almost always on call with little free time to have a social life. Other stations have a healthy staffing levels which means people do get regular time off.

I note that you said you have the opportunity to pick a wholetime, retained or day crewing stations

The recruitment process to become a wholetime firefighter can take anything up to two years, from first application due to the sheer number of people who apply.

The application process for Retained staff can also be long winded, retained and wholetime now sit the same entrance tests and even though retained stations may be desperate for new firefighters the selection process isn't accellerated to suit.

Day crewed station are manned by wholetime staff during the day and then either retained firefighters provide cover during the night or the wholetime crew respond via pagers. So to be considered for day crewing (during the day atleast) you would need to be a wholetime firefighter.

Not trying to put you off, the job is still the best job in the world, but its just worth thinking about these things first so you can make an informed decision .

Why not visit a few of the stations, and chat to the lads and lasses Im sure they would be more than happy to talk to you about the job and the pros and cons that go with it!