Have bought a couple of these this year and am loving how quickly they're coming on (I live in Melbourne, Australia).
I read someone say that they're slow to get going, but then become a bloom factory after a few years, but mine (especially the first one I bought, about 6 months ago, which was very young and its canes were only about as thick as a pencil) are really growing strongly now. They're sending out new (rich red) growth all over the place and the roots are also growing very quickly (they're coming out of the bottom of the 12 inch pot already). The one I bought about 6 months ago will probably have about 20 or more blooms in this spring flush, which is pretty good for such a young plant in a relatively small pot. (My Mister Lincoln, which is a year older plant, in the same sized pot, but not getting quite as much sun, has just one bud on it at the moment.)
I am so looking forward to seeing how it goes once I've potted it up again (or put it in the ground) and it's more established, as the fragrance alone on these is just amazing and it looks like these will be super-prolific, which I love.
I think Papa Meilland has the best form of the 4 well known super fragrant dark reds (Papa, Mister Lincoln, Oklahoma and Firefighter) and I love the fragrances of all 4, but it seems Firefighter is clearly the most prolific of the 4 and can be superbly formed, too.
My two have been pretty prone to BS, though, but that may have been due to the fact they seem to need a lot of water and more than I was initially giving them, so they may have been stressed, making them more susceptible to it. It will be interesting to see if it's still a problem once they're more established and in bigger pots, or the ground. Even if it does stick around, though, it's not as much of a problem as it would be on other varieties, as these send out new growth so fast that you hardly notice the missing leaves lost to BS.

I am interested in the comment comparing firefighter to Mr. Lincoln. I love a red rose with good scent, but do not like roses that only last 3 or 4 days in the garden. Mr lincoln, oklahoma, and papa meiland all fall into the too short flower life catagory, although I have only had one bloom on a new own root oklahoma so far and have not passed final judgement yet. Kardinal and opening night last, especially kardinal, last in the garden but lack scent. I am looking for a good red rose with fragrance that will last at least a week in the garden. The best I have found so far is fragrant charm (royal william), which last 5 or 6 days. Will firefighter meet the need?