A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department .
28-521: Various official English-language titles for a fire chief include fire chief , chief fire officer and fire commissioner . The latter can refer to a fire chief or to an overseer who works for the local government. " Chief fire officer " is the usual title in the United Kingdom. Traditionally, a fire chief in Scotland was known as a "fire master", but this was changed in 2006. The definition of
56-475: A committee of locally elected councillors. The committee's prime responsibility is to ensure that the fire service is run properly and responsibly. In simple terms, the chief officer is directly answerable to someone who represents the interests of the general public. Historically, many CFOs went on to join Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Fire Services,
84-400: A fire, or to order people or property seized as may be essential to preserving safety or investigating the cause of an incident. A fire chief's vehicle is not only a means of transport, but can act as an incident command post and a contact point for media reporters. Chief fire officer Chief fire officer ( CFO ), formerly often just chief officer or county fire officer , is
112-621: A government agency directly under the control of the Department for Communities and Local Government . Her Majesty's Inspectors are uniformed and considered to be superior to chief fire officers, although they have no power to directly command frontline fire crews. In 2007, the HMFSI was replaced by the office of the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser whose responsibilities extend to England and Wales. The Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor also retains
140-553: A merger of two previous wildfires that directly threatened, but never affected a transmitting station on the hill, was also responded to by both the Greater Manchester and Lancashire services. Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The inspections investigate how well
168-588: A metropolitan area, staffed by career firefighters. Auckland and Wellington , with their geographic sprawl, have their career stations divided into multiple districts - two in Wellington and five in Auckland. The other fourteen cities in New Zealand that have career firefighters are sufficiently compact geographically to allow each one to be a single fire district. The rank badge for chief fire officers
196-420: A normal event said to happen on the moor on a hot summer's day, but because of the heatwave starving the land of rain and thus drying the peat , the fire reignited on the next day, soon burning out of control, and following a declaration of a major incident the day after that, requiring the evacuation of 50 houses nearby. With the service having never fought a moorland fire on the scale of this fire, mutual aid
224-590: A separate section representing principal officers in fire and rescue services in Scotland. In Scotland , the CFO was traditionally referred to as the firemaster , although this title was replaced by chief fire officer in Scottish brigades in 2006 when the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force. Under proposed changes, chief fire officers were to be renamed brigade managers in line with modernisation directives issued by
252-588: A similar way to the military. A fire chief's role varies considerably depending on the size of the department. Some countries have a single national fire service, such as Israel, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Conversely, some countries, like the United States and Germany, have autonomous fire departments even in small towns. Others organize their fire services based on subdivisions such as regions, counties, provinces or sub-national states. The larger
280-644: A trained firefighter and cannot carry out frontline firefighting or incident command, and those roles are passed down to the director of operations. In the London Fire Brigade , the CFO is now known as the commissioner for fire and emergency planning. Chief fire officers in the United Kingdom are represented by the National Fire Chiefs Council (formerly the Chief Fire Officers Association ); it has
308-802: Is an impeller between two ferns below two impellers. They wear white helmets with two blue stripes. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service ( GMFRS ) is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester , England . It is part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority . GMFRS covers an area of approximately 496 square miles (1,280 km ). The service has 41 fire stations which until 2006 were organised into three territorial Area Commands (South, East and West), each one with an Area Command Headquarters, based at Stretford , Rochdale and Bolton respectively. When
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#1732791125614336-449: Is answerable to the local or national government that oversees the fire service. As well as the position of chief of scheduling. During an emergency incident, the first fire officer on the scene must "establish command", which can then be transferred to more senior officers such as the chief. The chief may delegate some statutory powers to qualified officers, such as the ability to enter or use private property as reasonably necessary to stop
364-400: Is delegated with commanding one or multiple areas of fire and rescue operations, such as training, vehicles and equipment, information technology, or human resources. A CFO is responsible for the day-to-day command of the fire service in all areas. Ultimately however major policies and procedures have to be agreed and passed by the fire authority to whom the CFO reports. The fire authority is
392-500: Is located in Pendlebury , Salford . The service would be created when the county of Greater Manchester came into being in 1974. Changing the name, from the previous Manchester Fire Brigade , into Greater Manchester County Fire Service . Around the late 70s to early 80s though, Greater Manchester County Fire Service turned into Greater Manchester Fire Service . the change in 1974 would happen to many other fire services across
420-535: Is usually appointed by the authority who oversees the running of the fire department, such as the mayor for a municipal fire department. It varies among countries as to whether it is the norm or not for fire chiefs to be former frontline firefighters. This is the case in the United States. It is also the norm in the United Kingdom, though in recent years there have been exceptions. By contrast, in France, fire officers and frontline firefighters are recruited separately in
448-434: The Department for Communities and Local Government . However, the title is unpopular and has so far not been used. Most chief fire officers are former frontline firefighters who have risen through the ranks. A few brigades have, however, employed chief fire officers with other career backgrounds. A chief fire officer is assisted by one deputy chief fire officer and a number of assistant chief fire officers , each of whom
476-440: The brigade altered the command area's structure they divided the three area commands from South, East and West to 11 Borough Commands, aligned to the 10 local authorities in the county: Bolton, Bury, Manchester (North/South), Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. The service employs 2,200 personnel, of which 1,200 are frontline firefighters, and 403 non-uniformed support staff. The service's headquarters
504-612: The delay in response, although blaming the Greater Manchester Police for the delay, citing an "information vacuum" from the force and for not correctly liaising with the ambulance and fire services following the bombing. The service, alongside the Lancashire fire service , were among the first responders to the Saddleworth Moor fire on 24 June 2018, managing to extinguish the fire on the same day,
532-425: The fire department, the more ranks will exist in between the chief and regular firefighters, such as assistants or deputy chiefs. The chief of a small volunteer fire department is likely to be the main incident commander for the majority of their call-outs and is nearly always a volunteer as well. However, the chief of a large fire department is employed in a mostly administrative role, and will only be called out to
560-658: The highest rank in the fire and rescue services of the United Kingdom . There are currently 50 chief fire officers serving in the United Kingdom in charge of the local authority fire services. There is also a chief fire officer responsible for the Ministry of Defence Fire Services , which includes the Defence Fire and Rescue Service and the RAF Fire Service. Some UK airport fire services also designate their seniors officers as CFOs, though these officers rarely wear
588-644: The largest incidents. The fire chief is responsible for carrying out the day-to-day tasks of running a firefighting organization. Such tasks include supervising other officers and firefighters at an emergency scene and recruiting, training, and equipping them for their respective duties. Depending upon local needs and organization, the chief may also be involved in fire prevention , fire inspection , disaster preparedness , emergency medical services , and related disciplines, as well as administrative duties such as budgets and personnel issues, research into safety and regulations, and liaison with other agencies. The chief
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#1732791125614616-537: The other seven borough councils of Greater Manchester. In 2017, the service came under considerable controversy on the night of the Manchester Arena bombing due to arriving two hours later than the police after the bombing. A report by Lord Bob Kerslake found that GMFRS deployed units only at 00:15 after conversation was overheard of armed police being sent in to scout the area one-and-a-half hours earlier. Then-Chief Fire Officer Peter O'Reilly apologised for
644-416: The same rank insignia as a local authority chief fire officer. Other titles for this office can include county fire officer and chief executive, neither of which are in common use. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service does, however, use the title of county fire officer and chief executive'. Kent Fire and Rescue Service 's chief executive is in charge of maintaining the service; however, they are not
672-469: The term fire officer varies by country, but generally refers to all firefighting personnel who have some command duties. This is comparable to the usage of "officer" in the military , rather than the term police officer . In fire departments of the United States, fire officers who are part of an engine company or other unit (lieutenants and captains) are company officers and those ranked higher (e.g. battalion chiefs ) are chief officers . A fire chief
700-624: The title as the de jure and de facto HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services. His Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland , however, continues its role and functions. According to the New Zealand Fire Service Act 1975, a chief fire officer in the New Zealand Fire Service commands a single fire district. This may be a volunteer fire brigade, with a single fire station, in an outer-urban or rural area, or it may consist of several fire stations in
728-474: The united kingdom. with many brigades merging/dissolving. The name change in 2004, to Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service , reflected the growing number of roles the service now has. Many services across the United Kingdom would change to Fire & Rescue Service . This change was inspired by new primary legislation for England and Wales, The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. The service
756-502: Was originally administered by the Greater Manchester County Council , but when this was abolished in 1986, administration of the service was taken over by a joint authority of the ten Metropolitan Boroughs of Greater Manchester, known as the "Fire and Rescue Authority". Five members are appointed by Manchester City Council , two each by Bury and Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Councils, and three each by
784-499: Was sought out from seven other fire services across the north of England, including Cumbria , Tyne and Wear , Nottinghamshire , Humberside and Warwickshire , and following a request from assistant chief fire officer Dave Keelan, military assistance came to help extinguish the wildfire, of which it eventually was declared three weeks later on 18 July. A similar fire on Winter Hill , north of Bolton in Lancashire , breaking out on 28 June and being declared under control on 16 July,
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