Defence Fire and Rescue: firefighting jobs inside the MOD

Defence Fire and Rescue (DFR) provides fire safety and firefighting cover for Ministry of Defence sites and people, and you can apply as a civilian through Civil Service Jobs. It is not a local authority fire and rescue service, and its staff include military personnel as well as civil servants. GOV.UK says it is not practical to generalise about pay, working conditions or pension arrangements, because the terms differ for each part of the organisation, so you need to read the advert for each post.

What DFR is

GOV.UK says DFR was formed in 2006 to create a single, regionally based fire risk management organisation for the MOD. It has functional control over 80 fire stations, three service delivery offices and four fire training centres, with over 2,000 personnel. It provides fire cover to some 300,000 MOD employees and strategic assets across about 4,600 sites, which together include some 45,000 buildings.

Its work includes fire safety, airfield rescue and firefighting, and structural firefighting. The organisation says it aims to provide a capability consistent with local authority fire and rescue service standards as far as is reasonably practicable within wider defence needs. Military staff are also required to provide fire and rescue under active service conditions, for example as part of incident response teams deployed by helicopter after mine strikes, or in damage control teams on Royal Navy warships.

The stated mission is to deliver cost-effective and sustainable fire and rescue capability to the MOD in peace and conflict, protecting MOD estate assets and personnel, and to provide an operational fire and rescue capability in support of military operations worldwide. It does this through prevention, protection and response services, and it develops fire policy and standards for defence.

Who works there

DFR staff come from several groups:

• military personnel: Royal Air Force Trade Group 8 firefighters and Royal Navy aircraft handlers
• civil service staff in the Defence Fire and Rescue Service
• locally employed civilian staff
• contractor staff

Each group has its own recruiting agency and its own terms. The military routes sit with the services, and our RAF guide gives the starting point for the air force side. GOV.UK points to the RAF firefighter page and the Royal Navy aircraft handler page for current vacancies in those trades.

How to apply as a civilian

To apply to the Defence Fire and Rescue Service as a civilian, GOV.UK says to go to the Civil Service Jobs website, use the advanced search, and filter jobs by department to select Ministry of Defence. Our guide on how to use Civil Service Jobs walks through the site, and the MOD civilian jobs guide covers vetting and nationality for MOD posts in general.

Because DFR civil servants work on defence sites, expect the checks that go with MOD employment. The security clearance guide explains the levels. Which level applies depends on the post and the site, and the advert will state it.

How it differs from a local fire service

If you are comparing DFR with a local fire and rescue service, our guide to how to become a firefighter describes the recruitment waves, tests and pay in the local authority sector. DFR recruits to individual vacancies advertised on Civil Service Jobs. We have not been able to confirm whether it uses the same selection tests, how its shifts compare, or what its pension arrangements are. GOV.UK’s own recruiting section declines to generalise, and it points enquiries to the specific recruiting agencies.

What to check before you apply

• Which group the job sits in: civil service, locally employed civilian, contractor, or military. Each has its own terms.
• The location. Posts are tied to MOD sites, including airfields, and you may need to live within reach of one. Ask where the station is and whether the shift pattern fits public transport.
• Pay, pension and shifts, which the advert will state. We have not quoted figures because the official page does not give any.
• The security requirements, and whether your residency and nationality meet them.
• A contact. DFR headquarters is at Marlborough Lines, Andover, and GOV.UK lists a phone number and email address for general enquiries.