The Firefighters Podcast
The Firefighters Podcast is a global podcast seeking to develop, inspire, connect, motivate, represent & celebrate the world of our emergency services operators through a series of wide-ranging conversations celebrating those within our emergency services family and encouraging the support of this incredible group of people.
Operational UK firefighter Pete Wakefield speaks with individuals from all walks of life who share a connection with, can add value to, or can develop those who choose this life path.
Our driving purpose is to create a legacy resource for the current and future generations of firefighters & first responders
Episodes
395 episodes
#408 ESS LIVE - When Systems Fail: Human Factors and the Weight of Modern Healthcare with Andy Youngson & Simon Nevitt
In this special Emergency services show Collaboration 2025 episode, we explore how human factors shape the way emergency services deliver care under pressure. Im Joined by Andy Youngson, Advanced Paramedic in Pre-Hospital Care with ...
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Season 6
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Episode 408
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25:21
#407 The Origin & Evolutions of Firefighter Fitness Tests in the UK with Dr Phil Turner
Today we’re digging into the roots of firefighter fitness. How we got from local “beep test and vibes” to nationally validated standards built from actual job tasks and science.Joining me is
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Season 6
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Episode 407
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2:03:55
#406 Built to Last: The Data Behind Improving Firefighter Health with Dr Daniel Higuera PHD
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Daniel Higuera a human performance coach, researcher, and Associate Professor at Santa Ana College. Dan’s worked with over two thousand firefighters across the U.S., studying how call volume, sleep lo...
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Season 6
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Episode 406
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1:40:52
#405 The History of the Fire Service
The History of the Fire Service - From the bucket brigades of ancient Rome and the Great Fire of London to the rise of professional brigades and modern scientific firefighting, this story traces how courage, community, and innovatio...
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Season 6
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Episode 405
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29:51
#404 Fuel What Matters: Performance, Recovery & Supplementation with Dan Peskett, Martin Boyce & Xendurance
Endurance sports have never been bigger—running, triathlon, Hyrox, cycling, and now the rise of firefighter challenge events are pulling more and more people into the world of testing limits. At the heart of these challenges lies a key performa...
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1:42:21
#403 ESS LIVE Confidence, Challenge, and Change: WFS with Siobhan & Ellie
Welcome back to our Emergency Service Show 2025 collaboration series. In this episode, we shine a light on Women in the Fire Service and not as a separate chapter, but as a vital force shaping the fire service ...
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Season 6
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Episode 403
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29:36
#402 DEBRIEF: The Great Chicago Fire of 1871
In this Denrief episode, we step back to October 1871 and relive the night Chicago became a city on fire. What began as a small barn blaze on DeKoven Street turned into a chain of wind-driven infernos that destroyed over 17,000 buildings, left ...
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Season 6
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Episode 402
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14:24
#401 ESS LIVE: Phil Garrigan & Fin Monahan on Leadership& Culture from the RAF to the Fireground
Over the next week we’ll be rolling out a special mini-series recorded live at the Emergency Services Show a collaboration with Catherine and the ESS team. The show is one of Europe’s leading gathering for the blue light community: ...
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Season 6
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Episode 401
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1:06:41
#400 Lt. Col. Dave Grossman Psychology of Service, Survival, Stress & the Warrior Mindset
In this episode in joined by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. Retired U.S. Army Ranger, paratrooper, former West Point psychology professor and author of On Killing and On Combat walks us through how we unpack the psychology of stress, trauma, and resil...
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Season 5
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Episode 400
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1:17:41
#399 LEADERS AS GARDENER'S: Building Psychological Safety and Future Ready Fire Services with Ann Millington OBE - Chief Executive of Kent Fire and Rescue Service
In this episode, I sit down with Ann Millington to dig into what leadership really looks like in the fire and rescue services today. We talk about psychological safety, building no-blame cultures, and navigating the messy reality of budget cuts...
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Season 5
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Episode 398
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1:50:35
#398 REMEMBERING THE 343: Firefighters United for the 911 Memorial Stair Climb
I had the pleasure of sitting down with my friend Scotty Hewson to talk about his remarkable journey through aviation, firefighting, and service. Scotty shared how his love for helicopters started as a child at an air show with his grandfather,...
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Season 5
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Episode 397
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51:34
#397 NORTHANTS FIREFIGHTER CHALLENGE 2025 DEBRIEF
In this episode I'm joined by my good friend Dean Keeber to celebrate the very first Northants Firefighter Challenge, hosted at the stunnin...
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Season 5
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Episode 397
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51:37
FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATIONS: Pressurised Staircases in UK High-Rise Buildings
In this episode of the Firefighters Podcast, we dive deep into the role of pressurised staircases in UK high-rise buildings. These engineered systems are designed to keep smoke out of escape routes, protecting residents during evacuation...
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Season 5
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14:15
#396 FIREFIT WORLD RECORD HOLDER BRAD DICKS
Today I’m speaking with Brad Dicks, firefighter, father, and the current world record holder in FireFit, the ultimate test of speed, strength, and resilience in the fire ...
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Season 5
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Episode 396
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1:31:50
#395 Firefighter PPE for a Changing World with Vicki Jackson of MSA
Every firefighter knows the feeling: sweating through a call in full structural PPE gear when it wasn’t needed. Fatigue, heat stress, restricted movement. These things cost us on the job.That’s why I sat down with Vicki Jackson from M...
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1:06:45
#394 We Remember Them: Reflections from the Firefighters Memorial Service of Remembrance
This episode is a reflection on the Firefighters Memorial Trust’s Annual Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum for those unable to attend. Surrounded by colleagues, families, and supporters, the day carried immense weight th...
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Season 5
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Episode 394
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17:29
#393 Growing Leaders, Building Trust & shaping culture with Mark Baxter CFO Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue
If you’ve followed this show for a while, you’ll know how much of a personal interest I have in leadership. And part of the reason for that is because, like many of you, I carry a fear with me: the fear that I might go through my career having ...
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Season 5
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Episode 393
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2:09:17
#392 SOUTH COAST FIREFIGHTER CHALLENGE 2025 DEBRIEF
The second instalment in our Challenge debrief series. Last time, we kicked things off with the Welsh Firefighter Challenge, Today we’re keeping that momentum going as we head south to shine a light on another incredible event the South Coast C...
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Season 5
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Episode 392
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1:05:02
#391 WELSH FIREFIGHTER CHALLENGE 2025 DEBRIEF
If you’ve been with us over the past couple of years, you’ll know we’ve done firefighter challenge debriefs before and the feedback has always been "do more of these"…so here we are, kicking off the first debrief of 2025.
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Season 5
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Episode 391
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48:06
FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATIONS: FLOWPATHS
This episode of the Firefighter Podcast dives into the critical concept of flow paths—the routes that heat, smoke, and fire gases take through a structure, driven by pressure differences, wind, and firefighter actions. Understanding flow...
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Season 5
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Episode 388
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20:25
#390 Beyond the Job: John Kelly on Holistic Health & Outliving the Fire Service
John Kelly is a former professional MMA fighter and Miami-Dade County firefighter who has become a holistic health coach. With over twenty years of experience in fitness, performance, and recovery, John now dedicates his life to helping first r...
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Season 5
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Episode 390
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1:51:35
FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATIONS: Basic Chemistry for Firefighting - The Reactions that Feed Fire
The Firefighting Foundations mini-series is a focused collection of episodes designed to lay down the essential building blocks of our craft. It’s not a complete manual, and it doesn’t claim to be — instead, it delivers a powerful, pract...
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8:46
#389 Evolution of INCIDENT COMMAND in the UK Fire Service with Kevin Arbuthnot
In this episode, Kevin Arbuthnot and I take a deep dive into how Incident Command has evolved in the UK not just in policy, but in culture, mindset, and leadership. We explore pivotal incidents that changed the way we operate, the pressures of ...
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Season 5
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Episode 389
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1:41:17
FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATIONS: The Foundations of Scientific Thinking for Firefighters
The Firefighting Foundations mini-series is a focused collection of episodes designed to lay down the essential building blocks of our craft. It’s not a complete manual, and it doesn’t claim to be — instead, it delivers a powerful, pract...
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Season 5
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Episode 388
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11:35
#389 Tactical Firefighting, Macedonia, Evolution & National best practice with Dave Berry - part 1 of 2
Today’s guest is someone whose name carries serious weight in the UK for tactical firefighting that's Dave Berry, Tactical Firefighting Training Lead at Greater Manches...
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Season 5
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Episode 389
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1:12:23
