Skip to content

Recruiting wholetime firefighters at Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service

Three firefighters standing in front of a fire engine discussing tactics at an incident

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service is recruiting apprentice, full-time firefighters and is asking people from every community across Northamptonshire if they have got what it takes to join the county’s firefighters.

If you live in Northamptonshire and are interested in applying, the recruitment portal is open until midday on Monday 14 August. Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service particularly wants to attract people from diverse backgrounds and walks of life to apply and help ensure the county’s Fire Service truly represents the people it serves. It is also welcoming applications from wholetime firefighters from other services as well as on-call firefighters.

Firefighting is a rewarding career that involves so much more than fighting fires. As well as responding to incidents that range from road traffic collisions to search and rescue operations, firefighters work in the community with specialists and other partners to carry out prevention and protection work.  Firefighters also play a vital role in community resilience in emergency situations such as flooding.

One of our latest wholetime recruits, Charlie Litchfield, joined the Service after last year’s recruitment campaign, and has loved his time here so far.

 

He said: “There’s not many workplace environments where you get to help people in this way. You can rescue people from burning buildings, but it’s also good to be getting out and about more in the community, visiting schools and things like that.

“The eight-week training period was hard, but I’d do it all over again. If anyone is thinking of applying this time around, all I would say is that joining the Fire Service is the best choice I’ve ever made.”

To be a trainee full-time firefighter, you must:

  • live in Northamptonshire
  • have a full car driving licence valid for the UK (with no more than 3 points)
  • be able to permanently live and work in the UK without any restrictions
  • be aged 18 years old at the start of the application process

Corby, Mereway, Daventry and Rushden Fire stations have been holding Have A Go days where anyone who has an interest in becoming a firefighter can try out their skills, and chat to serving firefighters about what it’s like to do the role for real. The next Have a Go day is being held at Rushden Fire Station on Friday 4 August. To register visit: Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service Events | Eventbrite

Kev Hardwick, Area Commander at Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “No two days are the same in the Fire Service. Whilst firefighting has been the primary function in the past, a modern fire and rescue service has a much wider remit, responding to a huge variety of incidents including road traffic collisions, water rescues and flooding. We also play a critical role in keeping the county safe, actively engaging with communities to help promote safety and prevent incidents before they happen.

“There are certain criteria that anyone interested in joining the fire service must meet, but ultimately if you live in the county, have the right attitude, determination and a desire to make a difference in the community you could become a firefighter. There is a list of essential criteria and more information about the fitness and strength tests on our website.

Please visit the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service website for more information and a link to the online registration portal.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service logo

Welcome to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service

It looks like you're using an old version of Internet Explorer. In order to have the best experience possible with this site, please update your browser to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, or use a different browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.x

Download Google Chrome   or   Download Mozilla FireFox