Fire department ranks by country

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Fire departments are structured differently around the world. Many firefighters are sworn members with command structures similar to the military and police. They do not have general police powers (some firefighters in the United States have limited police powers, like fire police departments, while certain fire marshals have full police powers, i.e. the ability to make warrantless arrests, and authority to carry a firearm on and off-duty), but have specific powers of enforcement and control in fire and emergency situations.

Australia[]

New South Wales Rural Fire Service

Operational rank	Membership type	Insignia
Commissioner	NSW Government Senior Executive Service Officer
Deputy commissioner	NSW Government Senior Executive Service Officer
Assistant commissioner	NSW Government Senior Executive Service Officer
Chief superintendent	NSW Government Public Service Officer
Superintendent	NSW Government Public Service Officer
Inspector	NSW Government Public Service Officer
Group captain	Volunteer
Deputy group captain	Volunteer
Assistant group captain	Volunteer
Captain	Volunteer
Senior deputy captain	Volunteer
Deputy captain	Volunteer
Support fire fighter (no qualifications)	Volunteer

Belgium[]

New rank structure of 2015.

Higher cadre
Colonel	Major	Captain	Lieutenant
Middle cadre		Basic cadre
Adjutant	Sergeant	Corporal	Firefighter

Canada[]

Ranks amongst Canadian firefighters vary across the country and ranking appears mostly with larger departments:

Toronto

Rank	Fire chief	Deputy fire chief	Division commander	Platoon chief	District chief	Captain	First class firefighter	Second class firefighter	Probationary firefighter
Insignia							None	None	None

Montreal

Rank	Insignia
Firefighter/Firefighter instructor	no insignia
Interim lieutenant	1 silver stripe
Lieutenant/Lieutenant instructor	2 silver stripes
Captain	3 silver stripes
Operations chief	1 thick yellow stripe
Division chief	1 thick and 1 thin yellow stripe
Assistant chief	1 thick and 2 thin yellow stripes
Deputy chief	1 thick and 3 thin yellow stripes
Fire chief	1 thick and 4 thin yellow stripes plus star

Vancouver

	Fire chief	Deputy fire chief	Assistant chief	Battalion chief	Training officer	Captain	Lieutenant	Firefighter	Probationary firefighter
Rank epaulettes								No insignia	No insignia
Rank pins								No insignia	No insignia

Chile[]

Ranks are divided between company officers and fire department officers, which can be subdivided between active officers (field officers) and administrative officers. The active officers are the captain, and three or four lieutenants, these four active officers are distinguished by red lines on their helmets.

Denmark[]

Rank epaulettes[1]
Direct translation of Danish ranks	Emergency director/ Emergency chief	Deputy emergency director/ Deputy emergency chief	Department chief/ Area chief	Area manager	Fire inspector	Deputy fire inspector/ Station master	Emergency master/ Fire master	Deputy emergency master/ Deputy fire master	Part-time team leader with instructor skills	Part-time team leader	Fire assistant/ Emergency assistant
Equivalent in London Fire Brigade	Commissioner	Deputy commissioner	Assistant commissioner	Deputy assistant commissioner	Group manager	Station manager	Station officer	Sub-officer	No equivalent	No equivalent	Firefighter

France[]

French civilian fire services, which historically are derived from French army sapper units, use French Army ranks. The highest rank in many departments is full colonel. Only the NCO rank of major is used in both the Paris Fire Brigade and the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion; since 2013 it has been abolished in the other fire departments.

Ministry of Interior

• Director general of civil security and crisis management
• Director of fire protection
• Comptroller general

Civilian fire services (professional fire fighters class A+)

• Comptroller general
• Colonel senior class/Colonel

Civilian fire services (professional fire fighters class A)

• Lieutenant colonel
• Commandant
• Captain

Civilian fire services (professional fire fighters class B)

• Lieutenant senior class/Lieutenant first class/Lieutenant second class

Civilian fire services (professional fire fighters class C)

• Adjutant with three years time-in-grade gets the insignia and title of "chief adjutant"
• Adjutant
• Sergeant with three years time-in-grade gets the insignia and title of "chief sergeant"
• Sergeant
• Chief corporal
• Corporal
• Sapper

Germany[]

In Germany every federal state has its own thus they have different rank systems. Additionally, in the volunteer fire departments, there is a difference between a rank and an official position. This is founded on the military traditions of the fire departments. Every firefighter can hold a high rank without having an official position. A firefighter can be promoted by years of service, training skills and qualifications. Official positions are partly elected or given by capabilities. These conditions allow that older ordinary firefighters have higher ranks than their leaders. But through this ranks are no authorities given (Brevet).

Professional fire fighters (middle technical grades) of Rheinland-Pfalz

Completed vocational training in a technical occupation suitable for the fire service. Basic firefighter training.

Brandmeister/-in während der Laufbahnausbildung	Brandmeister	Oberbrandmeister	Hauptbrandmeister

Professional fire fighters (upper technical grades) of Rheinland-Pfalz

Bachelor of Engineering and two years departmental training.

Brandinspektorenanwärter	Brandinspektor	Brandoberinspektor	Brandamtmann	Brandamtsrat	Brandoberamtsrat

Professional fire fighters (higher technical grades) of Rheinland-Pfalz

Master of Engineering and two years of departmental training.

Brandreferendar	Brandrat	Oberbrandrat	Branddirektor	Leitender Branddirektor Ministerialrat	Leitender Ministerialrat	Landesfeuerwehrinspekteur

Helmet insignia of Rheinland-Pfalz

Company leaders	Upper technical grades, battalion chiefs	Higher technical grades, fire chiefs

Indonesia[]

Firefighters in Indonesia form part of the civil service of local governments and wear variant forms of uniforms worn by civil servants and employees.

Rank category	Rank category number	Rank in Indonesian	Equivalent rank (with US General Schedule and UK Civil Service paygrade)	Rank in English (Regional/City/Municipal fire service personnel only)
Directors and senior ranked personnel	IV/e	Pembina Utama	Director general Senior executive service level V, Pay band 3 A7	Director
	IV/d	Pembina Utama Madya	Director Senior executive service level V Pay band 2 A7	Commissioner
	IV/c	Pembina Utama Muda	Deputy director GS-15, Pay band 2 A6	Commander
	IV/b	Pembina Tingkat I	Assistant director GS-14, Grade 6 A5	Battalion chief
	IV/a	Pembina	Senior executive officer 1st class GS-14, grade 7 A4	Fire captain first class
Field ranked officers	III/d	Penata Tingkat I	Senior executive officer 2nd class GS-13, grade 7 A3	Fire captain
	III/c	Penata	Higher executive officer 1st class GS-12, grade 7 A2	Lieutenant
	III/b	Penata Muda Tingkat I	Higher executive officer GS-11, A2	Senior inspector
Subaltern ranked officers	III/a	Penata Muda	Executive officer 1st class GS-10, A2/B6	Inspector
	II/d	Pengatur Tingkat I	Executive officer 2nd class GS-9, A1/B6	Station sub-officer
	II/c	Pengatur	Executive officer GS-8, A1/B5	Brigadier major
Senior firefighters	II/b	Pengatur Muda Tingkat I	Administrative officer class 1 GS-7, B4	Brigadier 1st class
	II/a	Pengatur Muda	Administrative officer class 2 GS-6, B4	Senior brigader
Junior firefighters	I/d	Juru Tingkat I	Higher clerical officer 1st class GS-5, B3	Brigadier
	I/c	Juru	Higher clerical officer GS-4/GS-3, B3	Junior brigadier
	I/b	Juru Muda Tingkat I	Clerical officer GS-2, B2	Senior firefighter
	I/a	Juru Muda	Administrative assistant GS-1, B1	Firefighter

Italy[]

The Vigili del Fuoco, (literally the word vigili comes from the Latin word vigiles, which means "who is part of certain guards") have the official name of Corpo nazionale dei vigili del fuoco (CNVVF, National Firefighters Corps).

The CNVVF is the Italian institutional agency for fire and rescue service. It is part of the Ministry of Interior's Department of Firefighters, Public Rescue and Public Protection. The CNVVF task is to provide safety for people, animals and property, and control the compliance of buildings and industries to fire safety rules. The Ministry of the Interior, through the CNVVF, adopts fire safety rules with ministerial decrees or other lower rank documents. The CNVVF also ensures public rescue in emergencies that involve the use of chemical weapons, bacteriological, radiological and materials. Since 2012 the corps uses its own rank titles (dating from 2007) with matching military styled insignia in honor of its origins.

In 2016 the CNVVF has been committed in forest firefighting activities together with the regional forest agencies, following the suppression of the National Forest Guards, which were merged into the carabinieri (firefighters were integrated into the CNVVF). .

Directors general	English	Rank insignia
Dirigente generale capo del corpo	Chief general manager of the corps
Dirigente generale	General manager
Dirigente superiore di livello C	Superior manager C-level
Dirigente superiore di livello D	Superior manager D-level
Primo dirigente di livello E	First manager E-level
Primo dirigente di livello F	First manager F-level
Directors	English	Rank insignia
Direttore vice dirigente con funzioni del dirigente di livello E	Director vice-manager with functions of the E-level manager
Direttore vice dirigente	Director vice-manager
Direttore	Director
Vice direttore	Vice director
Substitute fire directors	English	Rank insignia
Sostituto direttore antincendi capo
Sostituto direttore antincendi
Fire inspectors	English	Rank Insignia
Ispettore antincendi esperto
Ispettore antincendi
Vice ispettore antincendi
Non-commissioned officers	English	Rank insignia
Capo reparto esperto
Capo reparto
Capo squadra esperto
Capo squadra
Enlisted firefighters	English	Rank insignia
Vigile coordinatore
Vigile esperto
Vigile qualificato
Vigile del fuoco
Volunteer firefighters	English	Rank insignia
Funzionario tecnico antincendi
Capo reparto volontario
Capo squadra volontario
Vigile volontario

Iran[]

In Iran, every city has its own fire department, but ranks are the same in the whole country, and are as follows:

Rank	Persian	Collar/epaulette markings	Collar/epaulette markings (in Persian)
Volunteer firefighter I	آتش نشان داوطلب	One yellow bar	یک خط زرد
Volunteer firefighter II	آتش نشان داوطلب دوم	Two yellow bars	دو خط زرد
Volunteer firefighter III	آتش نشان داوطلب سوم	Three yellow bars	سه خط زرد
Firefighter I	آتش نشان	One silver bar	یک خط نقره ای
Firefighter II	آتش نشان دوم	Two silver bars	دو خط نقره ای
Firefighter III	آتش نشان سوم	Three silver bars	سه خط نقره ای
Head firefighter I	سرآتش نشان	One flame and one gold bar	یک شعله و یک خط طلایی
Head firefighter II	سرآتش نشان دوم	One flame and Two gold bars	یک شعله و دو خط طلایی
Head firefighter III	سرآتش نشان سوم	One flame and Three gold bars	یک شعله و سه خط طلایی
Master firefighter I	سر آتش یار	One flame	یک شعله
Master firefighter II	آتش یار	Two flames	دو شعله
Master firefighter III	آتش یار دوم	Three flames	سه شعله
Master firefighter IV	آتش یار سوم	Four flames	چهار شعله
Chief firefighter I	آتش پاد	One empty gold wreath	یک حلقه گل طلایی خالی
Chief firefighter II	آتش پاد دوم	One gold wreath with a flame inside	یک حلقه گل طلایی با یک شعله درونش
Chief firefighter III	آتش پاد سوم	One gold wreath with a flame inside and a silver bar below them	یک حلقه گل طلایی با یک شعله درونش و یک خط نقره ای زیر آنها
Chief master firefighter I	فرآتش پاد	One gold wreath with a flame inside and two silver bars below them	یک حلقه گل طلایی با یک شعله درونش و دو خط نقره ای زیر آنها
Chief master firefighter II	فرآتش پاد دوم	One gold wreath with a flame inside and three silver bars below them	یک حلقه گل طلایی با یک شعله درونش و سه خط نقره ای زیر آنها
Chief master firefighter III	فرآتش پاد سوم	One gold wreath with a flame inside and four silver bars below them	یک حلقه گل طلایی با یک شعله درونش و چهار خط نقره ای زیر آنها

Ireland[]

In Ireland, the traditional British and Commonwealth brigade rank structure is used, across the 26 counties.

Fire and rescue services are provided by 26 County Councils to the 26 counties of Ireland, and by three city councils with unitary authority status (those of Dublin, Cork, and Galway) within their respective cities. By agreement, the Dublin Fire Brigade provides cover to both the city and the county. Similarly, Galway City Council and Galway County Council have an agreement for the provision of a single fire and rescue service. Only Cork has separate services - Cork City Fire Brigade in the City of Cork, and in the wider County of Cork. In each of the other 23 counties of Ireland a single fire and rescue service covers the whole county, including all large towns and cities, as those 23 county councils are unitary authorities for the entire county jurisdiction.

Structure	County brigades		Dublin City Brigade[2]
Rank	Insignia	Helmet	Insignia	Helmet
Firefighter		Yellow		Yellow
Leading firefighter or driver mechanic		Yellow, one 12 mm horizontal black stripe	This rank is not used in Dublin
Sub officer		Yellow, two 12 mm horizontal black stripes		Yellow, two 12 mm horizontal black stripes
Station officer		White, one 19 mm horizontal black stripe		White, one 12 mm horizontal black stripe
District officer (operations) or district FPO	These ranks are not used in counties			White, one 19 mm horizontal black stripe
Third officer (operations) or executive FPO	These ranks are not used in counties			White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)
Second officer (operations) or senior executive FPO	These ranks are not used in counties			White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)
Assistant chief fire officer		White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)		White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)
Senior assistant chief fire officer		White, one 38 mm horizontal broad black stripe	This rank is not used in Dublin
Chief fire officer		White, two 38 mm horizontal broad black stripes		White, one 38 mm horizontal broad black stripe
Key: FPO = fire prevention officer

Japan[]

Japanese Fire Department's rank insignias are place on a small badge and pinned above the right pocket. Rank is told by stripes and hexagram stars. The design of the insignias came from older Japanese style military insignias. Officers and team leaders could wear an arm band on the arm of fire jacket to show status as command leader. Sometimes rank can be shown as different color fire jacket for command staff. The color whites and gray are reserved for EMS. Orange is reserved for rescuers.

Firefighter One star with one stripe across	Assistant fire sergeant Two stars with one stripe across	Fire sergeant Three stars with one stripe across
Fire lieutenant One star with two stripes across	Fire captain Two stars with two stripes across	Battalion chief Three stars with two stripes across
Assistant chief One star with solid background	1st assistant chief Two stars with solid background	Deputy chief Three stars with solid background
	Fire chief Four stars with solid background

Luxembourg[]

Higher cadre of professional and volunteer fire fighters[3] Cadre supérieur des pompiers volontaires et professionnels
Insignia
French	Directeur général	Colonel	Lieutenant-colonel	Major	Capitaine	Lieutenant 1ère classe	Lieutenant	Lieutenant-aspirant
English	Director general	Colonel	Lieutenant colonel	Major	Captain	Lieutenant 1st class	Lieutenant	Aspirant lieutenant

Middle cadre of professional and volunteer fire fighters[3] Cadre moyen des pompiers volontaires et professionnels
Insignia
French	Adjudant-major	Adjudant-chef	Adjudant	Adjudant-aspirant
English	Adjutant major	Chief adjutant	Adjutant	Aspirant adjutant

Basic cadre of professional and volunteer fire fighters[3] Cadre de base des pompiers volontaires et professionnels
Insignia
French	Sergent-major	Sergent-chef	Sergent	Caporal-chef 1ère classe	Caporal-chef	Caporal	Brigadier	Brigadier-aspirant
English	Sergeant major	Chief sergeant	Sergeant	Chief corporal 1st class	Chief corporal	Corporal	Brigadier	Aspirant brigadier

Malaysia[]

No.	Rank	Abbreviation	Rank (English)	Grade	Epaulet
					Shoulder board	Collar badge
Penguasa Bomba (fire superintendent)
1	Ketua Pesuruhjaya Bomba	KPjB	Chief fire commissioner	JUSA A
2	Pesuruhjaya Bomba	PjB	Fire commissioner	JUSA B
3	Timbalan Pesuruhjaya Bomba	TPjB	Deputy fire commissioner	JUSA C
4	Penolong Kanan Pesuruhjaya Bomba	PKPjB	Senior assistant fire commissioner	KB 54
5	Penolong Pesuruhjaya Bomba	PPjB	Assistant fire commissioner	KB 52
6	Penguasa Kanan Bomba I	PgKB I	Senior fire superintendent I	KB 48
7	Penguasa Kanan Bomba II	PgKB II	Senior fire superintendent II	KB 44
8	Penguasa Bomba	PgB	Fire superintendent	KB 41
Penolong Penguasa Bomba (assistant fire superintendent)
9	Timbalan Penguasa Bomba	TPgB	Deputy fire superintendent	KB 38
10	Penolong Kanan Penguasa Bomba	PKPgB	Senior assistant fire superintendent	KB 32
11	Penolong Penguasa Bomba	PPgB	Assistant fire superintendent	KB 29
Pegawai Bomba (fire officer)
12	Pegawai Bomba Tinggi	PBT	Leading fire officer	KB 26
13	Pegawai Bomba Kanan I	PBK I	Senior fire officer I	KB 24
14	Pegawai Bomba Kanan II	PBK II	Senior fire officer II	KB 22
15	Pegawai Bomba	PB	Fire officer	KB 17 / 19	No insignia

Netherlands[]

	Hoofdcommandeur	Fire chief
	Adjunct-Hoofdcommandeur	Deputy fire chief
	Commandeur	Division chief
	Hoofdbrandmeester	Battalion chief
	Brandmeester	Captain
	Hoofdbrandwacht	Engineer
	Brandwacht	Fire fighter
	Algemene / Aspirantfuncties	Trainee

New Zealand[]

In New Zealand, rank is shown on epaulettes on firefighters' station uniform, and through colors and stripes on firefighter helmets. As the nation only has a single fire department, the New Zealand Fire Service, ranks are consistent through the country.

Rank	Epaulette[4]	Helmet[4]
Trainee firefighter (TFF)	plain	fluro-green
Firefighter (FF)	one hollow bar	yellow
Qualified firefighter (QFF)	one solid bar	yellow, one red stripe
Senior firefighter (SFF)	two solid bars	yellow, two red stripes
Station officer (SO)	one impeller	red, one blue stripe
Senior station officer (SSO)	two impellers	red, two blue stripes
Deputy chief fire officer (DCFO)	impeller between two ferns below one impeller	white, one blue stripe
Chief fire officer (CFO)	impeller between two ferns below two impellers	white, two blue stripes
Assistant area commander (AAC)	three impellers	silver
Area commander (AC)	one impeller below a crown	silver, one blue stripe
Assistant national commander (ANC)	three impellers trefoil below a crown	silver, two blue stripes
Deputy national commander (DNC)	silver crossed sword and baton below an impeller	black
National commander (NC)	silver crossed sword and baton below a crown	black

Poland[]

Sekcyjny Section leader Private 1st class	Starszy sekcyjny Senior section Leader Specialist	Strażak Firefighter Private	Starszy strażak Senior firefighter Private
Młodszy ogniomistrz Junior firemaster Corporal	Ogniomistrz Firemaster Sergeant	Starszy ogniomistrz Senior firemaster Staff sergeant
Młodszy aspirant Junior aspirant Sergeant 1st class	Aspirant Aspirant Master sergeant	Starszy aspirant Senior aspirant Sergeant major	Aspirant sztabowy Staff aspirant Command sergeant major
Młodszy kapitan Junior captain Second lieutenant	Kapitan Captain First lieutenant	Starszy kapitan Senior captain Captain	Młodszy brygadier Junior brigadier Major
Brygadier Brigadier Lieutenant colonel	Starszy brygadier Senior brigadier Colonel	Nadbrygadier Chief brigadier Brigadier general	Generał brygadier General brigadier Major general

Russian Federation[]

In the Russian Federation, the decals are applied symmetrically on both sides of the helmet (front and rear). The location of the decals on the special clothing and SCBA is established for each fire department of the same type within the territorial entity. The following ranks are used by State Fire Service civilian personnel, while military personnel use ranks similar to those of the Police of Russia, due to their pre-2001 history as the fire service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation before all firefighting services were transferred to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Rank	Helmet colour/markings
Firefighter	The all color helmet with the applied number, indicating the fire station
Head of fire brigade	The all color helmet with the applied number, indicating the fire station, underlined by line 50 mm wide and 5 mm thick
Head of duty shift fire station	The all color helmet with the applied a circle, inside which the applied number is indicating the fire station
Deputy head of the fire station	The all color helmet with the applied a triangle, inside which the applied number is indicating the fire station
Head of the fire station	The all color helmet with the applied a square, inside which the applied number is indicating the fire station
Commanding staff of the fire department	The all color helmet with the applied a circle, inside which the applied a rhombus

Tunisia[]

Tunisian firefighter's ranks are the same as the army, police and national garde.

United Kingdom[]

ranks marked in Bold are exclusive to the

Rank title	Rank markings
Firefighter
Leading firefighter
Crew Manager/Commander or Sub-officer
Watch Manager/Commander or Station officer
Station commander
Group commander or Borough Commander
Area Commander or Deputy assistant commissioner
Assistant Chief Fire Officer or Assistant commissioner
Deputy Chief Fire Officer or Deputy commissioner
Chief Fire Officer or Commissioner

United States[]

In the United States, helmet colors often denote a fire fighter's rank or position. In general, white helmets denote chief officers, such as battalion chiefs, division chiefs, etc while red helmets may denote company officers, such as captains, lieutenants, etc but the specific meaning of a helmet's color or style varies from region to region and department to department. The rank of an officer in an American fire department is most commonly denoted by a number of speaking trumpets, a reference to a megaphone-like device used in the early days of the fire service, although typically called "bugle" in today's parlance. Ranks proceed from one (lieutenant) to five (fire chief) bugles. Traditional ranks in American fire departments that exist but may not always be utilized in all cities or towns include:

Rank	Insignia
Firefighter	No bugles
Engineer/technician/apparatus operator	3 chevrons
Lieutenant	1 bugle
Captain	2 bugles, either traditionally side by side or less usually crossed
Battalion chief/district chief	2 bugles, either side by side or more traditionally crossed
Division chief or assistant chief/deputy assistant chief/deputy assistant commissioner/assistant deputy commissioner	3 crossed bugles
Deputy chief/deputy commissioner	4 crossed bugles
Chief/commissioner	5 crossed bugles

In many fire departments in the U.S., the captain is commonly the commander of a company and a lieutenant is the supervisor of the company's firefighters on shift. There is no state or federal rank structure for firefighters and each municipality or volunteer fire department creates and uses their own unique structure.

Some other American fire departments such as the FDNY (New York City Fire Department) use military rank insignia in addition to or instead of the traditional bugles. Additionally, officers on truck companies have been known to use rank insignias shaped like axes for lieutenants (one) and captains (two).

References[]