Sub-officer , or the equivalent in other languages, is a term used in many armed forces used to indicate ranks below commissioned officers . Sub-officer is equivalent to the term warrant officer in the British Commonwealth and the United States. Historically armed forces using the term sub-officer have used it to refer to more senior non-commissioned ranks , typically from sergeant upwards, but the term often covers all ranks that other forces designate non-commissioned. In navies the term is comparable to petty officer .
50-676: There is a specific rank of "sub-officer" in some armed forces, in the UK Fire and Rescue Services, and in the Irish Fire Services. Sub-station officer (usually addressed as "Sub" or "Subbo") is a rank in the Irish Fire Services , below the rank of station officer . A Sub-station officer usually performs a command function in support of the station officer's role on the fireground, and occasionally may take command role at less-serious incidents and takes command when
100-645: A senior station officer at a station with multiple appliances. In New Zealand the rank badge is a single impeller ; in Australia, the rank badge is two impellers. Station officers in New Zealand wear red helmets with one blue stripe (prior to November 2013, they were yellow with one blue stripe). In Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES) (fire and rescue division) there are three station officer (SO) ranks: station officer 1 (SO 1), station officer 2(SO 2) and station officer 3(SO 3) and these ranks reflect
150-540: A number of direct reports, though these were concerned with matters such as human resources and finance rather than operational matters. The country was broken into five fire regions: Region 1 (Northland/Auckland), Region 2 (Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne), Region 3 (Lower North Island), Region 4 (South Island north of the Waitaki River ), and Region 5 (South Island south of the Waitaki River). Each region
200-471: A number of watches (shifts). Full-time career stations have four watches, red, brown, blue and green, rotating on a "four-on four-off" schedule: two 10-hour day shifts, followed by two 14-hour night shifts, followed by four days off. Combination career and volunteer stations may have had a yellow watch, in which career staff work four 10-hour day shifts per calendar week, having one weekday, Saturday and Sunday off. Non-operational staff were "black watch", and work
250-510: A regular 40-hour week. Career Firefighters responded to 70–80% of the incidents the NZFS attended and protected around 80% of the population. Career firefighters numbers were relatively stable with low turnover. The Fire Service usually recruited twice-yearly, and received up to 700 applications for just 48 positions on each intake, making competition high and job prospects poor compared to other industries. Initial training for career firefighters
300-586: A senior station officer has two impellers. Although variations still occur at the SO level within the different state fire and rescue services due to competency, experience and qualification requirements, the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC) has ensured that at the senior SO level the requirements across Australasia are generally consistent throughout all jurisdictions. Generally, Australasian SOs are made competent to perform
350-987: A standpipe and bar for accessing fire hydrants, and suction hoses for accessing non-reticulated water supplies; forcible entry tools such as Halligan bars , axes and sledgehammers; aluminium and wooden ladders; and a first aid kit with an automated external defibrillator . The two major variations on the Pump Tender were the Pump Aerial Tender and the Pump Rescue Tender. The Pump Aerial Tender had an additional aerial ladder and monitor for high-rise and aerial attacks. The Pump Rescue Tender, in addition to firefighting equipment, carried extra equipment primarily for motor vehicle accidents and vehicle extrication . Typical equipment included hydraulic rescue tools (aka "The Jaws of Life"), vehicle stabilisation equipment, and winches. Most new pumping appliances for
400-459: A three- or four-digit number for identification; the first two digits specify the appliance's resident station (numbers may be repeated between areas), while the last one or two digits specify its function. An example being "Newlands 291" – 29 indicated the appliance is resident at Newlands fire station in Wellington, and 1 indicates its function is a pump. These conventions carried through to
450-606: Is a supervisory rank in a number of Commonwealth and other fire services , including those in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the New Zealand Fire Service . In Australia and New Zealand a station officer is a career / permanent officer who is either the single officer on a watch / platoon / shift system in a single- or dual- fire apparatus/appliance station, with three to five firefighters reporting to them, or one of several officers under
500-451: Is now replaced by the role of watch manager A . The role of crew commander / crew manager now wear the markings of two silver bars. In 2019 The London Fire Brigade changed back to the rank system which resulted in watch commander A being reverted to sub-officer (with watch commander B being reverted to station officer). The female equivalent in the days when women in the fire services performed administrative and control room roles only
550-405: Is still usually the officer in charge of the day-to-day operations of the station. In some cases the term "station officer" is used to differentiate between an officer who works in the field and a staff officer. In many areas there is a captain on every shift (watch) at a station. This means that each shift has its own SO. In some departments there is a designated officer who is in overall charge of
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#1732790946706600-673: The Brazilian Army . In all three services of the Chilean Armed Forces, in the Carabineros de Chile and in the Chilean Gendarmerie , only two sub-officer ranks are used: These sub-officer ranks are the same in all the military and police services. In France a sub-officer is sergeant (or equivalent) and above as well as the rank of student sub-officer. (The equivalents to sergeant are 2nd master in
650-632: The NZ Police in many respects – a key one of those is that the three Communications Centres which co-ordinate the Fire Service response across NZ are colocated with their Police Equivalents in Auckland , Wellington and Christchurch . The radio network used by the Fire Service for its nationwide coverage was provided and supported by the police, although most urban areas provided for an exclusive Fire-only radio channel or channels. In rural areas,
700-535: The 24 areas contained within the regions. The areas were: Assistant Area Commanders were primarily responsible for managing the career districts, while the Area Commanders had overall responsibility for the area as well as for the volunteer Chief Fire Officers of each volunteer fire districts within their areas. These were the officers who are ultimately entrusted – via the Fire Service Act – with
750-961: The Auckland Volunteer Fire Brigade, and previously as the Auckland Fire Police Unit), had a membership of 60 and in the 2015 calendar year, members responded to more than 700 incidents. Knowing that upcoming legislative changes would repeal Section 33 of the Fire Service Act, NZFS ceased swearing new Fire Police Constables around 2011–2012 and instead converted its remaining Fire Police to Operational Support. Fire Police and Operational Support Units were exclusively staffed by volunteers and would be deployed at emergencies to provide non-firefighting functions, usually at larger-scale incidents. Typical duties included traffic and crowd control, scene cordons and lighting, first aid, salvage, communications and logistics, and even catering. A new colour scheme for helmets
800-554: The Fire Service Act) or as Operational Support (OS) (carrying out a similar role to Fire Police, but instead acting under the delegated authority of a Chief Fire Officer under Section 28 of the Act). Volunteers engaged as Fire Police or Operational Support were classed as operational personnel but were not trained or medically cleared to wear breathing apparatus; they were ranked similarly to operational firefighters and issued with
850-485: The French Navy, and Maréchal-des-logis in some army units (often abbreviated to "margi"), mostly cavalry and logistics arms, and most gendarmerie units.) Lower non-commissioned ranks, such as corporal and brigadier , are not considered sub-officers. Traditionally, French sub-officers are often recruited directly as sub-officers rather than rising from more junior ranks. Station officer Station officer
900-692: The Minister of Internal Affairs, by way of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission . The Commission was composed of five members, and the Minister was required by law to appoint at least one person who was either a fire engineer or had experience as a senior operational fire fighter. The New Zealand Fire Service Commission was also the National Rural Fire Authority. Beneath the Commission were
950-502: The New Zealand Fire Service attended. Volunteer firefighters had diverse backgrounds; around 14 percent were women , compared to just 2.8 percent in the career ranks. Volunteers were on-call; when an emergency call came through, firefighters were alerted through pagers and in many small regional towns, a siren atop the fire station. The minimum age to become a volunteer firefighter in the New Zealand Fire Service
1000-1430: The New Zealand Fire Service up until the transition to Fire and Emergency New Zealand, were manufactured by the Fraser Engineering Group in Lower Hutt , and based on Iveco , Scania and finally MAN chassis. Other manufacturers and chassis including Hino, Dennis, Mitsubishi/Fuso, International, Dodge, Bedford and Mack had been used in the past. There were four sizes of pumping appliances, named Type 1 through Type 5: Under NZFS (and subsequently within FENZ), Pump Tender identification numbers ends in 1, 2 or 3 (e.g. Onehunga 221, Manurewa 301, Hastings 561); Pump Aerial Tender identification numbers end in 4, 5 or 6 (e.g. Ellerslie 274, Auckland 205, Parnell 256); and Pump Rescue Tender (PRT) identification numbers end in 7 (e.g. Auckland 207, Papatoetoe 347, Christchurch 217) Career staff appliances may also carry more specialised items used for industrial rescue, light USAR and high-angle line rescue. In some areas, these are carried on separate Rescue or Emergency Tenders which do not have pumping capabilities. Additional specialist appliances are usually strategically located in each fire district. Typical appliances, their functions and identification numbers are as follows: The NZFS worked closely with
1050-426: The United Kingdom, an SO commands a watch at a multi-appliance station. He or she may have command of a watch at a very large station. The rank badge is two impellers; they also wear a white helmet with a half-inch black band around it. From 2006 most UK fire and rescue services changed from a rank-based system to a role-based system. This change meant the traditional rank titles were replaced with role-based titles for
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#17327909467061100-546: The United States, "station officer" is often a general term and has several meanings. It usually refers to the senior officer at the station, often a captain or a lieutenant . A station commander is an officer in charge of one or more fire stations, often referred to as a district chief or battalion chief in North America. If a battalion chief or district chief works out of a fire station, a captain or lieutenant
1150-559: The channel may have been shared between both services. Generally this was an acceptable arrangement, though when either the Police or the Fire Service are particularly busy in an area with shared radio services, this could cause the other service some grief. In contrast, the fact that police have ready and direct access to the Fire Communications Centre was occasionally of some value in terms of inter-agency liaison. At
1200-553: The country's population. The remainder of the land was covered by Rural Fire Authorities (RFAs) that acted under the Forest and Rural Fires Act. Fire Service brigades responded outside their Districts to deal with structure and rescue incidents, and usually undertook the initial suppression attack on wildland fires. Note: The New Zealand Department of Conservation was a RFA with responsibility for firefighting within recognised State areas, including National Parks, totalling about 30% of
1250-516: The country. The New Zealand Defence Force remains responsible for all Defence Areas as defined through the Defence Act. With these two agencies included, the NZFS and territorial local authority RFAs formed the bulk of the firefighting capability in New Zealand. There continues some contribution from Industry Fire Brigades (those run by commercial entities, for example forestry companies or Airport Authorities). The entire organisation reported to
1300-571: The duty performed. Station officers (two impeller rank marking) became watch managers. A station commander (three impellers) is a more senior officer with a similar role, usually in charge of one or more fire stations. In 2019, the London Fire Brigade , the UK's second largest fire and rescue service, announced that it would be reverting to the more traditional rank structure once again. The two impeller insignia therefore once again indicates
1350-564: The entire country with no division by region or city. It was the result of the New Zealand Fire Service Act (1975), which nationalised the various District-level brigades that had developed across the country. The New Zealand Fire Service was predominantly configured as an Urban Fire & Rescue Service. The Fire Service Act placed responsibility on the NZFS for firefighting in gazetted Urban Fire Districts, totalling about 3% of New Zealand's land area but covering 85% of
1400-462: The job requirements of the next higher rank within the respective state systems e.g; leading firefighters (L/Ffs) can perform the role of SO 1s and SO 1s can perform the role of SO 2s and SO 3s can perform the role of inspectors, if required. In some states systems, senior SOs can also in rural and semi-rural environments play a mentoring role across and for a diverse range of career/permanent, auxiliary/retained and volunteer firefighting personnel. In
1450-498: The older station officer ranks of sub-station officer, station officer and senior station officer. Each of these ranks has various pay points within them. QFES SOs wear a yellow helmet with a single red stripe for SO 1 and a double red stripe for SO 2s and 3s. In the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Brigade (MFB) Melbourne, Australia, a station officer has one impeller, and
1500-517: The positions of Chief Executive and National Commander. At the time of dissolution both positions were filled by Paul McGill. Where the Chief Executive did not have operational fire fighting experience, a separate National Commander was appointed to be the most senior operational fire fighter in the country. The National Commander may have taken control at a particularly serious incident, though this happened very rarely. The Chief Executive had
1550-493: The powers that are exercised at the scene of an incident to 'deal with' the emergency. These powers were far-reaching – they provide authority to commandeer, demolish or destroy whatever is required in the course of their duties, given no more suitable options. Each Chief Fire Officer (CFO) had a Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) and a number of Senior Station Officers (SSOs) and Station Officers (SOs) reporting to them. The minimum number of firefighters required to man most appliances
Sub-officer - Misplaced Pages Continue
1600-497: The rank of SO, as a rank senior to a sub-officer, and junior to a station commander. The fire services in the Republic of Ireland also use the rank of SO. In the full-time brigades of the five cities, they fulfil the role of watch manager, whereas in the retained county brigades, they fulfil the role of station commander. Rank markings are two impellers and, on the foreground, a white helmet with black comb and one black stripe. In
1650-405: The same uniform, but were identified on the incident ground by their distinctive blue helmet colour, and PPE optimised for visibility and poor-weather operations. FP/OS personnel were either attached to an operational fire brigade, or established into standalone units in their own right. The largest established Volunteer Fire Brigade in New Zealand, Auckland Operational Support Unit (also known as
1700-410: The scene of an incident, VHF and UHF simplex frequencies were generally used. These were usually common between NZFS, NRFA, DoC and NZDF firefighters and discrete from the police. Access to shared liaison channels was also provided, allowing for Ambulance, Police, Fire and other resources (for example aircraft that may be called upon to assist in firefighting) to co-ordinate. The New Zealand Fire Service
1750-666: The second highest and highest non-commissioned ranks respectively. The Navy and Air Force also use other "superior sub-officer" ranks. Argentine superior sub-officer ranks: In Brazil, the Sub-officer ( Suboficial ) is the highest enlisted rank for the Brazilian Navy (including the Brazilian Marine Corps ) and Brazilian Air Force and the equivalent of the Sub-lieutenant ( Subtenente ) in
1800-496: The station officer is absent. The badge of rank is two white or silver bars on the epaulettes (or the collar of the firefighting uniform), the helmet is yellow with two black 12.5 mm bands on it. Sub-officer (usually addressed as "Sub") is a rank in the London Fire Brigade and Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service . It was formerly all the British fire services , between leading firefighter and station officer. A sub-officer
1850-531: The station. New Zealand Fire Service The New Zealand Fire Service ( Māori : Whakaratonga Iwi , "Service to the People"; also known as the NZFS ) was New Zealand 's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new Fire and Emergency New Zealand . The NZFS was somewhat unusual, internationally, in that it had jurisdiction over
1900-412: The successor organisation, Fire and Emergency New Zealand. The basic appliance in service with NZFS was the Pump Tender, which is primarily equipped for fires. Typical equipment included a pump (normally driven off the appliance engine via a power take-off); a high pressure hose reel for small fires and initial attack; a supply of high-pressure and low-pressure hoses for larger fires; fire-fighting foam ;
1950-555: The year to 30 June 2013, the Fire Service attended 70,900 callouts. Of those, 7.7 percent were for structural fires , 23.3 percent were for non-structural fires, 32.8 percent for non-fire emergencies, and 36.2 percent were false alarms . In the same period, 38 people died in 34 fatal fires. Examples of non-fire emergencies the Fire Service attended include: The New Zealand Fire Service operated around 850 fire appliances, including conventional pumping appliances and specialist appliances, and 330 support vehicles. Fire appliances were given
2000-702: Was 16, although those under 18 required parental consent. Initial training was done within the local volunteer fire brigade at their weekly training nights and culminated in a seven-day residential recruit course, normally held at the National Training Centre (NTC) in Rotorua or the Woolston Training Centre in Christchurch. Training included hose drills, ladder drills, portable pumps, and breathing apparatus use ( BA ), which
2050-529: Was carried out in BATB (Breathing Apparatus Training Building) and RFTB (Realistic Fire Training Building) simulators. The BATB is a gas-fired training facility and the RFTB is a live fire scenario. The NZFS also engaged volunteers in non-firefighting roles, to provide support in a non-firefighting capacity at emergency incidents. These were variously engaged as Fire Police (FP) (sworn as Constables under Section 33 of
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2100-457: Was done on an intensive 12-week residential course at the national training centre in Rotorua that covered not only traditional firefighting subjects but others required of a modern professional Fire and Rescue Service. Topics such as; urban search and rescue (USAR), motor vehicle extrication and hazardous materials. Career firefighters provided the NZFS personnel that staff the nations specialised USAR Response teams. Additional specialised training
2150-428: Was first and foremost a firefighting service, as made obvious by the name. However, it was also increasingly called upon for other emergencies where firefighting skills and tools are helpful, including hazardous material incidents, motor vehicle accidents, natural disasters, and medical emergencies. This change in focus was reflected in the name-change effected during the transition to Fire and Emergency New Zealand . In
2200-685: Was four – an officer-in-charge, a driver/pump operator, and two firefighters – although many appliances were equipped to carry an extra one or two firefighters, operational support staff, or observers. An SSO may have run in place of an SO as required or at their own discretion. In career districts the SSOs were strategically located to provide a more experienced command officer who is usually placed such that they are responded to most incidents of significance. The New Zealand Fire Service employed 1,713 professional career firefighters, 444 support staff and 80 communication centre staff. Each career fire station had
2250-634: Was in the charge of a Fire Region Commander. All FRCs report directly to the National Commander, and were promoted from the ranks of operational staff. A FRC could take control of a major incident, and was ultimately responsible for any incident at which they are present even if they were not the Officer-in-Charge. Reporting to the Fire Region Commander were the Area Commanders and Assistant Area Commanders who manage
2300-536: Was introduced in August 2013, and rolled out in late 2013. Previously, yellow helmets were issued to Firefighters and Station Officers, white helmets to Chief Fire Officers, Area Commanders and Assistant National Commanders, with markings being the only discerning features. The changes saw Station Officer helmets change to red (trainee firefighter helmets, which were red, changed to green), and Area Commander and Assistant National Commander helmets change to silver. The change
2350-547: Was provided for these personnel, however all paid career firefighters were trained to a baseline USAR 'Responder' level. Career firefighters made up only 20 percent of the New Zealand Fire Service's firefighting manpower; the remaining 80 percent of firefighters were volunteers, who received no payment for their time or labour. The 8,300 volunteer firefighters belonged to the 360 volunteer fire brigades, mainly serving small towns, communities and outer suburbs which career stations did not cover, and responded to 20–30% of all incidents
2400-559: Was senior leading firewoman. With the advent of mixed-sex control rooms, the title was changed to senior fire control operator (SFCOp). In Argentina the term sub-officer ( suboficial ) formerly applied only to the more senior non-commissioned ranks. Now these ranks are known as "superior sub-officers" and lower ranks as "junior sub-officers". Each branch of the Argentine Armed Forces use chief sub-officer ( suboficial principal ) and senior sub-officer ( suboficial mayor ) as
2450-600: Was to make it easier to identify the command structure at a large-scale, multi-agency incident. The epaulette markings used by the New Zealand Fire Service were similar to those used by the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Army , except for the use of impellers instead of pips. (OS: blue with two white stripes) (OS: blue with one white stripe) (OS: blue with two yellow stripes) (OS: blue with one yellow stripe) The New Zealand Fire Service
2500-435: Was usually in charge of a small one- pump fire station or a watch in a larger station. In some brigades they may be in charge of multi-pump stations. The badge of rank is two white or silver bars on the epaulettes (or the collar of the firefighting uniform), the helmet was yellow with two 12.5 mm bands on it. With the transition from a rank based structure to a role based structure, the rank of sub-officer has disappeared and
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