PODCAST · education
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-ranging conversations with those within our emergency services family. Hosted by serving operational UK firefighter & Instructor Pete Wakefield who speaks with individuals from all walks of life who share a connection with, can add value to, or can develop those within the fire sector. Our driving purpose is to create a legacy resource for the current and future generations of firefighters & first responders
Episodes
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#517 Are We Making Firefighters Safer or Less Capable? | Chris Gott & Justin Brunner
Are We Training Firefighters Wrong? | Chris Gott & Justin Brunner Are we genuinely developing better firefighters, or are we simply getting better at ticking boxes, completing assessments and documenting competence? In this episode of The Firefighters Podcast, I sit down with Chris Gott and…
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#516 Culture on Fire: We Know the Problem - So Why Is Change So Hard
Why does meaningful change remain so difficult when decades of research, inspections and cultural reviews have already identified so many of the problems? In this episode, Im joined by Janette Morris, former senior fire and rescue leader and HMICFRS inspector; Dave Baigent, former firefighter and...
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#515 Beyond National Best Practice: Why Firefighting Needs Global Thinking with Dr Lori Moore-Merrell & Phil Garrigan
Recorded at the World Fire Congress 2026 in London, I sat down with Dr Lori Moore-Merrell, former US Fire Administrator and founding Chair of the World Fire Congress, and Phil Garrigan, Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), to explore some of the biggest challenges facing fire and...
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#514 Lithium-Ion Battery Fires: What Every Firefighter Needs to Know | Dr Stephen Kerber
Lithium-ion batteries are now embedded in almost every part of modern life, from mobile phones and power tools to electric vehicles, public transport and large-scale energy storage systems. But as this technology becomes more widespread, are fire and rescue services keeping pace with the risks?...
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#513 Wildfire, AI & the Future of the UK Fire Service | London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith
Recorded at the 2026 World Fire Congress in Westminster, I sat down with London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith for a conversation about some of the biggest challenges facing the modern Fire and Rescue Service. We talk about what London learned after being caught out by the 2022 wildfires, how...
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#512 The Future of Firefighter Health & Wellbeing | Professor Rowena Hill | World Fire Congress 2026
Recorded at the 2026 World Fire Congress in Westminster, I caught up with my friend Professor Rowena Hill from Nottingham Trent University, who also chairs the NFCC Academic Collaboration, Evaluation and Research Board. In this conversation, we explore firefighter health and wellbeing through a...
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#511 Beyond the Incident Command Assessment | Katherine Lamb
This conversation with Katherine Lamb, founder of Effective Command, explores what effective incident command really looks like beyond simply following procedure. We discuss professional judgement, risk-based decision-making, command competence, behavioural assessment and the difference between...
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#510 Beyond the Fire Kit: Innovation, Culture & Leadership | Simon Hunter
In this episode, I travelled to Northern Ireland to sit down with Simon Hunter and Chris Colgan with the team at Hunter Apparel Solutions for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of firefighter PPE, innovation, leadership and firefighter protection. We explore how modern fire kit is...
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#509 Rebuilding UK Firefighting Tactics, Training & Doctrine with Dan Stephens
Dan Stephens returns to The Firefighters Podcast to explore the next evolution of tactical firefighting in the UK. We discuss the work underway with the NFCC to turn decades of fire dynamics research and operational learning into clear, evidence-based tactical techniques and practical…
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#508 Firefighter Cancer, Contaminants & What the Science Now Tells Us with Prof. Anna Stec
Professor Anna Stec is one of the leading voices in fire chemistry, toxicity and firefighter occupational health and in this episode we explore what the science is now telling us about the hidden health cost of firefighting. From her landmark UK firefighter contamination research and work with…
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#507 DEBRIEF When the Rescue Crew needs rescuing - Firefighter Fatality in DeKalb County Fire Rescue Georgia Sept 8th 2025
On 8 September 2025, DeKalb County Fire Rescue crews responded to a commercial warehouse fire in Georgia and quickly discovered that the building was not what it first appeared to be. Inside the 14,000-square-foot Type II-B warehouse was an unpermitted film studio made up of temporary rooms…
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#506 DEBRIEF: Running Out of Air - The Texas Fire That Injured Nine Firefighters
On 30 August 2025, firefighters responded to a large two-storey residential fire in Texas after an occupant reported a fire in the master bedroom and confirmed everyone was out. Crews committed to an interior attack, but multiple firefighters ended up operating on the second floor in zero...
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#505 INTERSCHUTZ 2026 with PBI What 35 Years in the FDNY Taught Dan Melia About PPE
Recorded live at INTERSCHUTZ, this episode puts the spotlight on PBI and the people behind the protection firefighters rely on every day. I sit down with Dan Melia, a 35-year FDNY veteran, former Safety Chief and long-time firefighter PPE advocate, whose career has taken him from operational...
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#504 High Rise Masterclass with Brent Brooks Ep 4 Hose Lines, Big Water & Lithium-Ion Fires
In the fourth and final instalment of the High Rise Masterclass, Toronto Fire Captain Brent Brooks brings the series firmly back to practical fireground application. Brent explores big-water tactics, 65 mm hose deployment, nozzle reaction, progressive hose stretches, extending lines when crews…
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#503 25 Years After 911, Terry Farrell & the Atlanta Stair Climb with Laurel Clonts Malcolm
As we prepare to head to Atlanta for the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I wanted to understand the meaning behind the trip and the people at the heart of it. I sat down with Laurel Clonts Malcolm from the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund to talk about Terry Farrell, an FDNY firefighter killed on 9/11,...
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#502 UK Wildfire Season Debrief 2026
The UK’s 2026 wildfire season has pushed Fire and Rescue Services into unprecedented operational territory. In this episode, we look at the numbers behind more than a thousand significant wildfires, some of the largest and most resource-intensive incidents of the year, the impact on firefighters,...
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#501 Duarte Mendes Marine, Firefighter, World Champion
In this episode I sit down with Portuguese firefighter and world champion firefighter athlete Duarte Mendes to discover the man behind the medals. We talk about growing up in the small Portuguese town of Avis, the values and work ethic his family gave him, his four years serving in the Portuguese...
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#499 How to Buy PPE & Uniform Without Getting It Wrong with Natalie Wilson
In this episode I sit down with Natalie Wilson, Founder and Managing Director of Workwear Solutions International, to explore one of the most important but often underdeveloped areas in the fire sector: how we specify, procure, assess and ultimately trust the PPE and workwear we rely on every…
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#498 Ordinary People, Extraordinary Rescues: When Everyday People Choose to Act
In this one-off episode I step away from our usual focus on trained emergency responders to explore what happens when ordinary people find themselves inside somebody else’s worst moment and choose to act. Through documented stories involving burning buildings, aircraft crashes, freezing water,...
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#497 In the Bays with Cobb County Fire Georgia USA
Recorded in the appliance bays during our March 2026 visit to Atlanta, this episode offers a quick insight into Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services and one small part of the wider American fire service. We discuss their specialist command and rescue capabilities, emergency medical provision,...
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#496 Humble, Hungry & Smart: How to become the teammate your crew can rely on
In this short solo episode, Im doing something a little different as one of the most common emails i get is about personal development tools - so here is one i think might be useful. In this episode im going to revisit & explore Patrick Lencioni’s book The Ideal Team Player and its simple but...
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#495 Creating Thinking Firefighters with Chief Jason Caughey
In this episode, im joined by Chief Jason Caughey, a fire service leader with more than 30 years of experience and the Fire Chief of Laramie County Fire Authority in Wyoming, to explore the difference between simply training firefighters to complete tasks and genuinely developing people who can...
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#494 DEBRIEF: 11 Minutes to Fireball - Boyd Street, Downtown LA, May 16th 2020
In this incident debrief, we examine the Boyd Street fire in Downtown Los Angeles, where what first appeared to be a routine commercial building fire rapidly escalated into a catastrophic fireball that injured 12 Los Angeles firefighters. We break down the building, the hidden hazards inside, the...
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#493 On-Call & Volunteer Retention Systems: The Perennial Problem - Solving It for the 21st Century
In this episode, we explore one of the fire service’s most persistent challenges: how we recruit, retain and properly support on-call and volunteer firefighters in a world that has changed faster than the systems designed to sustain them. Joined by Brittany Hollerbach, Emelie Lantz and Dr Steve...
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#492 DEBRIEF: Glasgow School of Art Fire, Failure and the Hidden Highway
In this incident debrief, we examine the two devastating fires at the Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh Building in 2014 and 2018, unpacking how heritage construction, hidden ventilation ducts, timber voids, compromised fire protection during restoration, delayed detection, and an unfinished…
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#491 Modern Fire officer with Jared Vermeulen
“Speak softly and carry a big stick” is more than Jared Vermeulen’s favourite quote it reflects the way he thinks about leadership, responsibility, and the modern fire officer. Born and raised in the blue-collar fishing town of Jupiter, Florida, Jared grew up around construction and was…
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#490 High Rise Masterclass with Brent Brooks Ep 3 High Rise Search, Flow Path & Survivability
In this special High Rise Masterclass miniseries, The Firefighters Podcast brings you live recordings direct from the International Tall Buildings Conference and specialist high rise firefighting masterclass held in London in May 2026. Across this series, internationally respected high rise...
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#489 More Than Coffee: Rescue 1 & the Mission of Fire Department Coffee with Randy James
Today’s episode is with Randy James from Fire Department Coffee. Randy is a career firefighter and paramedic from Rockford, Illinois, serving since April 2000. His journey took him to Ladder 5, working alongside Fire Department Coffee founder Luke Schneider, before becoming Director of Brand...
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#488 Firefighters with Parkinson’s: The Diagnosis No One Sees Coming
Today is about what happens when the job we love meets a diagnosis that can change everything. I am joined by Dawn Harding, a retired Chief Fire Officer, alongside Steve Norman, former Deputy Assistant Commissioner with London Fire Brigade and now working with the National Fire Chiefs Council…
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#487 Mr Honest Work aka Jaguar Wattley
Jag, better known to many online as Mr Honest has absolutely exploded across Instagram and TikTok over the last year and has become one of the most recognisable firefighter voices on social media, not just here in the UK, but across the wider fire service community internationally. What makes Jag...
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#486 Why Persistence Matters: Firefighter, Gladiator & Competitive Optimist | Millie Margetts
Millie Margetts is a firefighter with Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, a coach, athlete, Gladiators semi finalist, and someone who embodies the power of persistence. In this episode, we explore her journey into the fire service after years of setbacks, the challenges and opportunities that…
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#485 Leather, Legacy & the shield with Justin Fitzwater of Fitzwater Leather
CLICK HERE JOIN ME AT BLUE LIGHT SHOW | LONDON | JULY 2026 My guest today is Justin Fitzwater, firefighter with the Kansas City Fire Department and founder of Fitzwater Leather, a company renowned throughout the American fire service for creating some of the most stunning custom helmet fronts and...
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#484 You Can't Put It Out - Thermal Runaway, EV Fires & the Health Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight with Martin Brown
CLICK HERE JOIN ME AT BLUE LIGHT SHOW | LONDON | JULY 2026 In this episode I sit down with Martin Brown, Chartered Engineer and Improvement Consultant at HORIBA MIRA, and one of the world's leading experts on the safety of new energy vehicles. With nearly three decades of experience designing and...
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#483 Debrief - Doorway to Hell | 2 Forest Laneway, North York, Toronto, Canada | January 6th 1995
CLICK HERE JOIN ME AT BLUE LIGHT SHOW | LONDON | JULY 2026 On the 6th of January 1995, at five in the morning, a man discovered his sofa was on fire in apartment 509 of a thirty-storey residential block in North York, Toronto. He tried to put it out, failed, and ran leaving his apartment door…
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#482 AFOA 2026 Conference Live - Developing the All-Hazard Leader with Peter Critchell and Craig Rayner
In this episode of our AFOA 2026 Conference Live mini-series, you are going to hear a presentation from Peter Critchell and Craig Rayner exploring the development of the all-hazard leader within aviation fire and rescue. Drawing on experience from across the UK fire and rescue sector, the session...
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#481 Rescue, Transform, Donate: Sustainable Luxury with Kresse Wesling of Elvis & Kresse
In this episode, I speak with Kresse Wesling CBE, co-founder of Elvis & Kresse, about how decommissioned fire hose once destined for landfill became the foundation of a sustainable luxury brand built on three pillars: rescue, transform and donate. Kresse shares the origin story behind discovering...
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#480 High Rise Masterclass with Brent Brooks Episode 2
In this special High Rise Masterclass miniseries, The Firefighters Podcast brings you live recordings direct from the International Tall Buildings Conference and specialist high rise firefighting masterclass held in London in May 2026. Across this series, internationally respected high rise...
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#479 The Evolution of Structural Firefighting PPE: Reigniting a New Era with Bill Lawson and Helmut Zepf from PBI
I sit down with Helmut Zepf, Managing Director of the PPE Division at PBI, and Bill Lawson, President of PBI, to explore what is really protecting firefighters inside their PPE. As The Firefighters Podcast begins its partnership with PBI ahead of INTERSCHUTZ 2026, this episode looks beyond the...
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#478 Firefighter Jack Goodwin on Elite Performance, Mental Health & Finding Meaning Beyond Success
In this episode of The Firefighters Podcast, I sit down with Jack Goodwin for a powerful conversation exploring resilience, trauma, identity, and the psychology of high performance. A Great Britain international athlete with personal bests of 13:35 for 5,000 metres, 29:16 for 10,000 metres, and a...
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#477 High Rise Masterclass with Brent Brooks Mini-series Episode 1
In this special High Rise Masterclass miniseries, The Firefighters Podcast brings you live recordings direct from the International Tall Buildings Conference and specialist high rise firefighting masterclass held in London in May 2026. Across this series, internationally respected high rise...
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#476 AFOA 2026 Conference Live RFFS Industry Update with Neil Gray
In Episode 3 of our AFOA 2026 Conference Live mini-series, Principal Aerodrome Inspector Neil Gray from the UK Civil Aviation Authority provides a comprehensive industry update covering key developments affecting aviation fire and rescue services. Topics include terminal safety, the importance of...
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#475 Electric Vehicle Fires Explained with Mike Maybin from IRRTC
In this episode I sit down with Mike Maybin from IRRTC to explore how rapidly evolving vehicle technology is reshaping the fireground. From electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries to hydrogen systems and heavy goods vehicles, Mike explains the hazards firefighters are increasingly likely to...
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#474 AFOA 2026 Conference Live: Resilience After Trauma with Matt Bourner
Welcome to Episode 2 of our special mini-series recorded at the Airport Fire Officers Association (AFOA) Conference 2026, where we are sharing some of the most powerful presentations and conversations from across the aviation fire and rescue sector. In this episode, I sit down with Matt Bourner...
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#473 AFOA 2026 Conference Live: Operational Learning from the Southend Airport Crash with Justin Nicolson
Welcome to Episode 1 of our special mini-series recorded at the Airport Fire Officers Association (AFOA) Conference 2026, where we are bringing you some of the most valuable presentations and conversations from across the aviation fire and rescue sector. We begin with a powerful operational…
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#472 The Art of Decision Making: Incident command, Cognition & Chaos on the Fireground
In this episode of The Firefighters Podcast, we explore incident command, cognition and the art of decision making on the fireground. This is not just a conversation for commanders. It is for every firefighter, because every person on the incident ground is making decisions that shape outcomes....
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#471 Why Good Ideas Fail in the Fire Service with Peter Younes of PROJECT COMMAND
In this episode I sit down with Peter Younes, host of Project Command, to explore one of the biggest hidden gaps in the modern fire service: our ability to turn good ideas into finished, effective change. We talk about why firefighters are often brilliant at delivering under pressure on the...
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#470 Cuts, Cancer, Crewing & What’s Really Happening to the UK Fire Service with Ben Selby Assistant General Secretary of Fire Brigades Union
This episode with Ben Selby from the Fire Brigades Union takes a clear and honest look at the pressures facing the UK fire and rescue service, from funding cuts and the loss of around 12,000 firefighters since 2010 to the real-world impact seen in places like Oxfordshire and Dorset and Wiltshire....
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#469 Domestic Violence in The Fire Service: When the Person who wears the Uniform Needs Protecting with Rhiain Akin
Me & Rhiain Akin of London Fire Brigade explore the reality of domestic violence within the fire service and why it must be recognised as a workplace issue, not just something that happens behind closed doors. Drawing on her own experience as a victim survivor and her work leading the Phoenix...
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#468 YOUR UNIFORM IS FAILING....and you know it - Claire Wilford from First Tactical
How much attention do you actually pay to the uniform you wear every day? The trousers that don’t fit right. The seams that go. The fabric that fades. In this episode, im chatting with Claire Wilford, Head of European Sales at First Tactical to unpack a question most of us have never really…
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#467 Artificial Intelligence & Large Language Models for First Responders with Jurga Zilinskiene MBE
Recorded in collaboration with the Blue Light Show, London’s leading emergency services conference and expo, this episode explores what Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models actually mean for first responders, beyond the noise, hype and fear. Sitting down with Jurga Zilinskiene…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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-ranging conversations with those within our emergency services family.
Hosted by serving operational UK firefighter & Instructor Pete Wakefield who speaks with individuals from all walks of life who share a connection with, can add value to, or can develop those within the fire sector.
Our driving purpose is to create a legacy resource for the current and future generations of firefighters & first responders
HOSTED BY
Pete Wakefield
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Firefighter Podcast have?
Firefighter Podcast currently has 502 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Firefighter Podcast about?
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-ranging conversations with those within our emergency services family. Hosted by serving operational UK...
How often does Firefighter Podcast release new episodes?
Firefighter Podcast releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 502 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Firefighter Podcast?
You can listen to Firefighter Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Firefighter Podcast?
Firefighter Podcast is created and hosted by Pete Wakefield.
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