Julie Burford

London Fire Brigade

London Fire Brigade is the busiest fire and rescue service in the country. What's more, we are one of the largest firefighting and rescue organisations in the world protecting people and property from fire within the 1587 square kilometers of Greater London. We are the only UK fire service where all operational staff are full-time. Other brigades use a combination of full and part-time staff and retained firefighters who carry out firefighting duties in addition to their usual employment. To provide a round-the-clock service, we operate a two shift, four-watch system at stations – red, white, blue and green. Control staff take emergency 999 calls, find out details of incidents, send fire engines and deploy our resources to emergencies. They also use a six-watch system but have a different rank structure. It's not just firefighters who help make London a safer city. We have a range of non-uniformed and non-operational staff who work behind the scenes to support our front-line services, including IT, Finance, Procurement and Community Safety officers.