Firefighters in England say 100-hour weeks to pay bills are ‘gamble with safety’

theguardian.com:

Firefighters are taking second jobs and working up to 100 hours a week to make ends meet, leading to growing concerns that an increasingly exhausted workforce is resulting in a “gamble with public safety”.

Firefighters across the country told the Observer that the service was at “breaking point” with more crew than ever being forced to take jobs such as personal trainers, painters and decorators or in warehouses. Wages in the fire service are often about £30,000 but can be as low as £23,000.

“When I started the job just a few years ago, I had good prospects of being able to buy a house and pay my bills – but, with inflation, I’m being priced out of this job,” one said. “I want to do this job, I want to help people … but I can’t afford to have a house, can’t afford to raise a family right now. I’m not asking for much.”

“You’d think [as an emergency service worker] you’d be looked after, but you’re just not,” he added.

The fire service is already dealing with record understaffing, with one Guardian analysis finding that numbers in England have fallen 20.4% since 2010, while local government funding for fire services has been cut by 14% in the past five years.

Firefighters are being balloted by the Fire Brigades Union for what would be its first strike in nearly a decade.

The union, which represents more than 32,000 of the country’s roughly 40,000 fire and rescue staff, is in dispute with the government over a proposed 2% pay award, which the union says would leave firefighters facing a real terms pay cut with inflation at 9.9%. The union says that, adjusted for inflation, firefighters have seen their pay cut by 12% between 2009 and 2021.

Lloyd Akers, an FBU rep and firefighter in Scunthorpe, said he could only afford to heat two