Firefighter in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) recruits two kinds of firefighter. Wholetime firefighters work full-time at stations anywhere in Northern Ireland, and on-call firefighters carry a pager and respond from home or work. To join you must be 18 or over by the training start date, pass online assessments, physical tests and an interview, and then complete an initial training programme that currently lasts up to 22 weeks.

Wholetime or on-call

A wholetime firefighter is a full-time job at one of NIFRS’s stations. You can be posted anywhere in Northern Ireland, and you work shifts and public holidays.

An on-call firefighter works part-time and carries on with an ordinary day until an emergency call. When you are on duty you are alerted by pager and have 5 minutes to reach your local station. In the most recent on-call campaign, for 26 stations from 23 February to 13 March 2026, applicants had to live or work within 5 minutes of their station. On-call staff attend the same kinds of incidents, which NIFRS lists as fires, floods, road traffic collisions, chemical spills and specialist rescues, plus community education and fire prevention.

What on-call commitment looks like

On-call firefighters sign up to one of four contracts, depending on the hours of cover you can give:

Contract	Average availability
1	119 hours a week, Monday to Sunday
2	91 hours a week, with 48 hours at set weekend and weekday times
3	91 hours a week, including at least 40 hours on weekdays between 6am and 6pm
4	40 hours a week, Monday to Friday, 6am to 6pm

You are paid an annual retainer each month, plus payments for drill nights, emergency calls and training. NIFRS also lists 7 safety-critical training days on station each year, plus related training, and weekend courses at the Learning and Development Centre.

Wholetime duty systems

Wholetime firefighters work on one of three duty systems, which NIFRS says are subject to change:

• Day crewing: Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, with days off in lieu.
• Variable crewing: seven shifts in a two-week cycle, from 7.30am to 7.30pm.
• 2-2-4 crewing: two day shifts from 8am to 6pm, two night shifts from 6pm to 8am, then four days off.

The NIFRS careers page gives approximate salaries of £31,539 for a development firefighter and £40,358 for a competent firefighter, and says pay follows national awards. For the broader picture, see firefighter pay.

Selection

The wholetime process has these stages: online application and shortlisting, two online ability assessments (a firefighter assessment and mechanical reasoning), practical aptitude tests, an assessment or interview, pre-employment checks and appointment. The on-call process runs from online application and shortlisting to interview, practical aptitude tests, pre-employment checks and appointment. NIFRS says these may change and tells candidates to read the information pack for their campaign. See the firefighter application process for how it compares with services in England.

The practical aptitude tests

Wholetime and on-call candidates do the same physical tests:

• Ladder lift: raise the bar of a 30kg simulator to the height of a fire appliance. If you cannot lift at least 25kg you are excluded.
• Confined spaces: crawl through tunnels in full protective kit and a breathing apparatus face mask, within a set time.
• Casualty drag: drag a 55kg dummy backwards for 30 metres in full kit.
• Equipment carry: carry hoses and other kit over a 25-metre course, covering 550 metres in total.
• Ladder climb: climb a 13.5-metre ladder, take a leg lock, let go with your hands and identify a symbol held at ground level.
• Ladder extension: extend and lower operational ladders.

At the pre-employment stage there is a Chester Treadmill Walk Test, 12 minutes at 6.2 km/h on a gradient rising to 15 per cent, designed to show you can reach 42 VO2 max. You repeat the ladder lift, this time at 30kg, and a failure at that point means you will not be appointed. The health assessment covers a questionnaire, hearing, blood pressure and urinalysis, eyesight and colour perception.

Training and progression

Wholetime recruits start as Trainee Firefighters on an initial programme of up to 22 weeks, subject to review, before a station posting. You learn to use hose, ladders and pumps, breathing apparatus, and road traffic collision and emergency critical care skills. A development programme then has to be completed to show competence. Continuation training happens at stations, with specialist courses at NIFRS’s Learning and Development College.

On-call recruits complete a structured training programme within a set time, with weekly training at the local station. Progression is open to both groups, and on-call staff can progress to crew commander and watch commander.

For the English version of the job, see how to become a firefighter and how to become an on-call firefighter.