Firefighter Podcast

By Pete Wakefield

The Firefighters Podcast is an award winning global podcast developing, inspiring, connecting, motivating & celebrating the world of our emergency services operators through a series of wide-ra

... more

5

33 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Firefighter Podcast:

How many episodes does Firefighter Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 513 episodes available.

Firefighter Podcast episodes:

March 16, 2026#455 Have we been alerting firefighters the wrong way ? - Blake Richardson from EASE ALERT
In this episode I sit down with Blake Richardson, CEO of EaseAlert and the son of a 22 year firefighter to explore what may be one of the next frontiers in firefighter health and safety: how we alert crews to calls.
For generations the fire service has relied on loud bells, tones and lights to mobilise stations. It works, but it was designed to wake an entire building rather than the specific firefighters who are actually responding. EaseAlert is approaching this differently, using wearable tactile alerting and integrated station technology to notify responders directly. The goal is simple but powerful: wake firefighters effectively without triggering the extreme startle response that traditional alarm systems can create.
In our conversation we dig into the science behind alerting, including sleep disruption, stress responses and the cumulative physiological impact alarms may have across a firefighter’s career. Early research comparing tactile alerting with traditional audible systems has shown a 38.3 percent reduction in heart rate spike during the first 30 seconds after an alert when firefighters used the EaseAlert system. As cardiovascular events and sleep related health challenges remain major concerns in our profession, this episode explores whether the future of firefighter alerting lies not in waking the entire station, but in responding the firefighter themselves.
You can also download the DATA about EASE ALERT research HERE
EASE alert website HERE
Email Blake at - [email protected]
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
1h 5min
March 12, 2026#454 IFIW Australia Ep04 Chief Jason Caughey - Commanding the Balance Between Aggression & Safety
In this episode of the International Fire Instructors Workshop (IFIW) Australia mini series, Fire Chief Jason Caughey of the Laramie County Fire Authority explores one of the most debated topics in the modern fire service: the relationship between aggressive firefighting and firefighter safety.
With more than 30 years in emergency services and over two decades serving as a Fire Chief, Jason brings a leadership perspective shaped by operational experience, education and global teaching. Drawing on survey responses from more than 1,600 firefighters, officers and chiefs, he challenges the idea that safe and aggressive tactics are opposing philosophies. Instead, Jason argues that disciplined, calculated decision making allows firefighters to achieve effective outcomes while still managing risk to crews and the public.
Recorded live at the International Fire Instructors Workshop in Australia, this conversation captures honest instructor level discussion about culture, leadership and the evolving expectations placed on firefighters and incident commanders.
Connect with Jason HERE
You can also download the full presentation using the link HERE
For those undertaking professional development, CPD is available for listening to this episode through the Institute of Fire Engineers - email [email protected]
PROTECT YOURSELF IN LIVE FIRE WITH ENDURO PROTECT & DE-WIPE
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
45min
March 09, 2026#453 Tradition & Reform: Navigating Change in the Fire Service with Beci Newton
Beci Newton is a Station Manager in the UK Fire and Rescue Service and an experienced fire behaviour instructor as well as other disciplines joins me for a conversation about our past, our present and our future, and how we are evolving the identity of our profession.
This episode is about more than neutral planes &compartment behaviour. It is about identity & about who we are as a profession.
We step back and ask some difficult but necessary questions about the fire and rescue service and the direction it is moving in. Who are we, really, as a profession? Where have we come from over the last two decades? How have we changed and why? How much of that change has genuinely made us better, stronger and more effective on the fireground, and how much of it has been performative? How much has added real operational value and how much, if we are honest, may have stripped something away?
We explore the tension at the heart of modern reform. How do we innovate without forgetting the past? How do we change without losing ourselves? How do we embrace inclusivity, cognitive diversity and modern leadership while still protecting the qualities that make a firefighter dependable when it matters most: reliability, discipline, calm confidence under pressure, technical competence, resilience and steadfastness when conditions deteriorate.
Because progress without memory can be reckless, and tradition without reflection leads nowhere. Somewhere between those two maybe sits the confident, disciplined and inclusive fire and rescue service we are all trying to build.
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
2h 41min
March 05, 2026#452 IFIW Australia – Ep03 James Mendoza Large Volume Gas Cooling & The Home Depot Fire
In this episode of the IFIW Australia mini-series, James Mendoza, Captain and Training Officer with the San Jose Fire Department, takes us inside a major large volume fire at a Home Depot in 2022. With a background in education and microbiology, and experience contributing to UL’s Coordinated Fire Attack study, James blends science and street-level decision making as he unpacks the realities of operating inside a thirty foot high warehouse filled with high rack storage, compressed gas cylinders and lithium ion batteries. This is a raw debrief of what it actually looked like when the smoke layer dropped to the floor and traditional straight stream techniques began to show their limitations.
We explore gas cooling in a large compartment, the cognitive load on company officers, the tension between defensive indicators and life risk, and the uncomfortable gaps in training when firefighters are highly competent in residential fires but underprepared for mega structures.
The series is supported by Enduro Protect and De-Wipe, organisations committed to protecting firefighters from long term exposure risks while continuing to develop operational competence. Links to both can be found in the episode notes.
Connect with James HERE
You can also download the full presentation using the link HERE
For those undertaking professional development, CPD is available for listening to this episode through the Institute of Fire Engineers - email [email protected]
PROTECT YOURSELF IN LIVE FIRE WITH ENDURO PROTECT & DE-WIPE
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
54min
March 02, 2026#451 Challenge Season: Legends, Disruptors & the Rise of the British Firefighter Series with John Gregory
In this episode I sit down with my good friend John Gregory, one of the original trailblazers of the British Firefighter Challenge as we head into a challenge season that is bigger and more competitive than ever before.
John and I have shared the arena many times over the years, from Toughest Firefighter competitions to international search and rescue arduous conditions courses and HYROX events and that shared experience shapes a conversation that goes far beyond fitness.
We unpack the growth of the British Firefighter Challenge series, competitions organised by firefighters for firefighters that tests operationally relevant skills against the clock and we talk openly about the runners and riders this year, the returning legends, and the hungry disruptors stepping up to shift the order.
SEE ALL THE British Firefighter Challenge series competitions HERE
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
1h 14min
February 26, 2026#450 IFIW Australia – Ep02 Ed Hartin Fireground Sensemaking & Decision Making for Station Officers
In this episode recorded live at the International Fire Instructors Workshop 2026 in Australia, you’ll hear from Edward Hartin as he explores fireground sensemaking and decision making for the station officer. Drawing on more than fifty years in the fire service and decades at chief officer level, Ed takes us inside the cognitive process that underpins command. How initial cues shape your frame of reference before you even arrive. Why experience alone is not expertise. And how deliberate practice through Tactical Decision Games builds the pattern recognition, risk assessment and coordination skills that actually show up when conditions deteriorate.
This episode forms part of the IFIW Australia mini-series and was recorded in a live working environment, so what you hear is raw and authentic. The series is supported by Enduro Protect and De Wipe, two organisations focused on reducing occupational exposure risks in realistic training environments. Enduro Protect’s particulate blocking range and De Wipe’s decontamination wipes are practical tools designed to protect firefighters from harmful contaminants while continuing to develop operational competence. Links to both, along with Ed’s downloadable presentation, can be found in the episode notes.
Connect with Ed HERE
Find Command Competence HERE
For those undertaking professional development, CPD is available for listening to this episode through the Institute of Fire Engineers - email [email protected]
You can also download the full presentation using the link HERE
PROTECT YOURSELF IN LIVE FIRE WITH ENDURO PROTECT & DE-WIPE
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
1h 1min
February 23, 2026#449 London Fire Brigade - A UK Fire Brigade on a Global Scale with LFB Commissioner Jonathan Smith
London Fire Brigade protects one of the most complex urban environments on the planet. The resident population of London sits at around 9 million people, but that number is misleading. On a typical weekday, when commuters, tourists, and transient populations are added in, the number of people moving through the city regularly swells to 11 to 12 million, sometimes more during major events or peak travel periods.
Around a quarter of all fire and rescue service calls in the UK come into London. Around 70% of the UK’s high rise residential stock sits within the M25. This is not just a big fire brigade. It’s a service operating at global city scale, with global city risk.
In this episode, I sit down with Jonathan Smith, Commissioner of London Fire Brigade, to talk honestly about what it takes to lead a service like that in today’s operating environment.
We start with Jonathan’s journey into the fire service, from training and operational life through promotion and leadership, but this is not a career timeline conversation. It’s a working discussion about responsibility, decision making, and pressure at scale.
We talk about training and professional standards, what was lost after the early 2000s, and what it really means to professionalise a modern fire service. We explore high rise firefighting in London, lessons learned from Grenfell, and how evacuation, control, and operational command have fundamentally changed over the last decade.
This conversation deliberately looks beyond a single service or even a single country. We frame London alongside other global cities like New York, Paris, and Tokyo, because the risks London faces don’t stop at national borders. Climate change, lithium battery fires, terrorism, urban density, and geopolitical tension all show up on the streets of this city, and the fire service has to be ready for that reality.
We also talk culture, not as a buzzword, but as lived behaviour. Leadership, accountability, psychological safety, and what it actually takes to create an organisation where people can do their best work without fear or silence. And finally, we zoom in on the personal cost of leadership, resilience, and how you stay grounded when the stakes are this high.
This is a grounded, boots on the ground conversation about the future of firefighting, leadership in complex systems, and how our profession can continue to shape its own destiny.
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
1h 28min
February 19, 2026#448 IFIW Australia - Ep01 Karel Lambert Air Consumption During Tunnel Firefighting with IFE
This mini series opens a door into the International Fire Instructors Workshop 2026 in Australia, a gathering that for nearly two decades has been built on closed room conversations, honest challenge and the exchange of experience between some of the most respected fire instructors in the world.
With the full support of the organisers and attendees, these recordings bring that environment into the open. The theme this year is Back to Basics, a deliberate return to the fundamentals that genuinely change outcomes on the fireground and in the training environment. What you are hearing is live and unfiltered, complete with the movement and background of a real working room, because that is exactly where the learning happens and why it is so valuable.
Alongside the operational learning sits a clear commitment to longevity in the job and reducing the hidden risks that come with realistic fire behaviour training. The support from Enduro Protect and De Wipe reflects a practical approach to contamination control and long term health, based on repeated use in live burn environments and consistent performance over time. If we are serious about pushing our competence and exposing ourselves to high fidelity training, we have to be just as disciplined about protecting ourselves from the long term consequences of that exposure.
This first episode features Karel Lambert, Division Chief at Brussels Fire Department, presenting on air consumption during tunnel firefighting.
For those undertaking professional development, CPD is available for listening to this episode through the Institute of Fire Engineers - email [email protected]
You can also download the full presentation using the link HERE
PROTECT YOURSELF IN LIVE FIRE WITH ENDURO PROTECT & DE-WIPE
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
1h 18min
February 16, 2026#447 Hard Things, Endurance & Bum Butter - an Adventure with Scott Butler
In this episode, I sit down with Scott Butler, a serving UK firefighter who has quietly built a life around choosing difficult things on purpose. Scott shares the pivotal moment in 2006 when joining the fire service forced him to grow fast, take responsibility, and stop making excuses. That turning point shaped not just his career, but his identity, and set him on a path where challenge became a way of understanding himself rather than something to avoid.
Our conversation goes far beyond adventure headlines. We talk about ultra-distance challenges, rowing the Atlantic, desert races, long lonely days where quitting would make complete sense, and the mindset required to keep moving anyway. Along the way, we explore fear, ageing, doubt, discipline, charity, and why firefighters often feel most at home in uncomfortable places. There is also a surprisingly important discussion about bum butter, because it turns out the right anti-chafing cream can overcome all kinds of horrific challenges. This is a grounded, honest, and funny conversation about resilience, agency, and backing yourself without needing applause.
Find Scott HERE
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
2h 53min
February 12, 2026#446 Debrief: Bethnal Green, London, July 20th 2004
This short debrief episode examines the Bethnal Green Road fire of 20 July 2004, a commercial premises fire in East London that resulted in the deaths of two London firefighters, Billy Faust and Adam Meere. Crews attended what initially presented as a working shop fire and committed under Breathing Apparatus into a basement environment characterised by heavy textile fuel loading, restricted access, and limited ventilation.
This episode focuses on exploring how fire behaviour can change when ventilation-limited conditions are involved. Particular attention is given to tactical ventilation, positive pressure ventilation, and positive pressure attack, and how airflow interacts with ventilation profiles in modern incidents.
Bethnal Green Road remains a critical case study for all firefighters - a FREE downloadable training document accompanies this episode for crews to aid and facilitate training sessions - DOWNLOAD IT HERE
Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE
Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE
our partners supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
MSA The Safety Company
JAFCO
IDEX
FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***
Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
...more
10min

FAQs about Firefighter Podcast:

How many episodes does Firefighter Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 513 episodes available.

More shows like Firefighter Podcast

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

863 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,952 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,791 Listeners

The Resus Room by Simon Laing, Rob Fenwick & James Yates

The Resus Room

97 Listeners

Tailenders by BBC Radio 5 Live

Tailenders

137 Listeners

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee by Dr Rangan Chatterjee: GP & Author

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

3,903 Listeners

The High Performance Podcast by High Performance

The High Performance Podcast

575 Listeners

The Good, The Bad & The Rugby by Platform Media

The Good, The Bad & The Rugby

262 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,506 Listeners

Wolf & Owl with Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davis by Ranga Bee & Platform Media

Wolf & Owl with Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davis

263 Listeners

Short History Of... by NOISER

Short History Of...

2,854 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics

3,858 Listeners

The News Agents by Global

The News Agents

1,314 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics: Leading by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics: Leading

851 Listeners

The Rest Is Classified by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Classified

1,153 Listeners