Firefighter Podcast
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
492 episodes
#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 e...
#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 ...
#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, prog...
#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 abou...
#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-intensi...
#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 w...
#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 ultim...
#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 ...
#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 com...
#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
#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 Wyom...
#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 br...
#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....
#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 d...
#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...
#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 ...
#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 L...
#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 Brigad...
#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 f...
#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 o...
#485 Leather, Legacy & the shield with Justin Fitzwater of Fitzwater Leather
CLICK HERE JOIN ME AT BLUE LIGHT SHOW | LONDON | JULY 2026My guest today is Justin Fitzwater, firefighter with the Kansas City Fire De...
#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 2026In this episode I sit down with
#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 2026On the 6th of January 1995, at five in the morning, a man discovered his sof...
#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 f...
