Operational Response and Fire Control

The Operational Response and Fire Control (ORFC) hub plays a vital role in supporting continuous improvement across UK fire and rescue services. The hub provides advice and technical support on a wide range of operational response and fire control issues, helping to ensure services are informed, effective and safe. Acting as a conduit for NFCC lead officers reporting to the Operational Preparedness, Response and Resilience Committee, the ORFC hub brings together insight from across the sector.

ORFC works collaboratively across NFCC, identifying professional support and bringing together experience and expertise from NFCC committees, working groups and partners to share knowledge and drive improvement. These groups are made up of subject matter experts and advisers. They help us explore complex issues, emerging risks, and recommend actions. In order to protect the public and firefighters, we develop new and maintain existing Operational and Fire Control Guidance to ensure it remains relevant and consistent. ORFC also provide support to other NFCC hubs by providing operational and fire control advice to inform their products

This area of NFCC’s work develops and maintains Operational and Fire Control Guidance and tools for UK fire and rescue services. Operational and Fire Control Guidance is the foundation for developing operational policies, procedures and training for personnel to deal with incidents effectively and safely. It is ‘industry good practice’ for everybody in fire and rescue services to draw on.

It can be adopted across the UK and is available for individual fire and rescue services to consider its implications on their own policies, procedures and training. Some of the guidance may not be relevant to all fire and rescue services as this will depend on the range and scope of services the fire authority has agreed to provide, usually through its risk management plan.

Operational and Fire Control Guidance

Operational and Fire Control Guidance is predicated on a competent workforce and only applies to working practices at operational incidents, although there is a section on corporate guidance for operational activity. It does not cover other corporate policy guidance, equipment, technical notes or fire safety. It describes the hazards that may be encountered at incidents and details the activities and control measures that may need to be used to control or mitigate those hazards. The control measures describe what should be considered and included in each fire and rescue service’s policies (strategic actions). It also includes possible actions for personnel and incident commanders to consider using (tactical actions). This informs each service’s operational policies, procedures and training, bringing consistency across the UK.

It builds on the legacy of previously adopted guidance and includes the most up-to-date thinking from subject matter experts from both inside and outside of the fire and rescue service.

Each fire and rescue service is obliged to carry out its own risk assessments and identify appropriate control measures to protect its employees and communities. The risks across different services are often very similar or identical.

National work to identify hazards and control measures closely aligns to local risks and complete adoption of Operational and Fire Control Guidance will often be possible. Having a national, high-quality product to draw on improves the quality-of-service delivery and saves a lot of time and money when different services are doing broadly the same thing.

It is also much clearer to those outside the service, including coroners or those responsible for public inquiries, that the service has a sound body of intelligence and good practice on which its activities are based. They will base their expectations of the service on Operational and Fire Control Guidance and will expect it to have been appropriately considered.

On-call

The hub also hosts and supports the work of the on-call duty system. It remains a cornerstone of fire and rescue provision, delivering cost-effective and community-rooted emergency cover, particularly in rural and lower-risk areas.

On-call firefighters are at the heart of their communities, providing a vital emergency response when people need it most. They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things, balancing their firefighting duties alongside careers, businesses, families, and everyday life.

They come from every walk of life. They may be farmers, plumbers, electricians, small business owners, office workers, or self-employed professionals. What unites them is not their background, but their commitment to serving others and making a difference where they live.

In many towns and rural areas, on-call firefighters provide the critical emergency response that communities rely on. They are the resilience behind the fire and rescue service, ensuring help arrives quickly when it matters most. Without them, many communities would not have the level of protection they depend upon.