CHIEF FIRE OFFICER

Chief Fire Officer is the highest ranking or highest commanding officer in the Fire Service in England and Wales. It is equivalent to 'Fire Master' in Scotland. Other titles for this office include 'County Fire Officer' (no longer widely used) and 'Chief Executive' (a recent style that remains a rarity). The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority Chief Officer is known as 'The Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade'.

The use of the title 'Chief Executive' is deprecated by some firefighters who believe that it creates the false impression that the post is a non-uniformed, civilian role. Although the title has been adopted to reflect the modern "business approach" of many fire brigades, almost all Chief Fire Officers have progressed from frontline roles through the rank structure. The employment of civilian Chief Fire Officers by some brigades has been met with resistance by many firefighters.

A Chief Fire Officer is responsible for the day to day operational command of the fire service. Ultimately however major policies and procedures have to be agreed and passed by the Fire Authority to whom the Chief Officer reports. The Fire Authority is a committee of locally elected councillors. The committee's prime responsibilty 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.

Some Chief Fire Officers become specially appointed inspectors of the Fire Service Inspectorate. The rank of appointment as an inspector is officially known as 'HMI' (Her Majesty's Inspector of Fire Services). The role is uniformed and seen to be superior to that of a Chief Fire Officer. However an HMI has no power to directly command front line fire crews.

A Chief Fire Officer is assisted by one Deputy Chief Fire Officer and up to five Assistant Chief Fire Officers—each of whom will be delegated with commanding one or multiple areas of fire brigade operations such as training, vehicles and equipment, information technology or human resources.