Firefighting jargon includes a diverse lexicon of both common and idiosyncratic terms. One problem that exists in trying to create a list such as this is that much of the terminology used by a particular department is specifically defined in their particular standing operating procedures,such that two departments may have completely different terms for the same thing. For example,depending on whom one asks,a safety team may be referred to as a standby,a RIT or RIG or RIC,or a FAST. Furthermore,a department may change a definition within its SOP,such that one year it may be RIT,and the next RIG or RIC.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London,the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865,under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992 staff,including 5,096 operational firefighters and officers based at 102 fire stations.
The New Zealand Fire Service 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 Fire Service College is responsible for providing leadership,management and advanced operational training courses for senior fire officers from the United Kingdom and foreign fire authorities. It is located at Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire,England. It has been owned by Capita since February 2013,having previously been an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) is the professional body representing senior fire officers in the United Kingdom. The organisation used to be known as the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association,it was formed in 1974 following local government re-structuring. Since 2017,the operational activity of the CFOA has been delivered by the new National Fire Chiefs Council.
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales,Northern Ireland,and Scotland.
Avon Fire &Rescue Service (AF&RS) is the fire and rescue service covering the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset,Bristol,North Somerset,and South Gloucestershire in South West England.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England,and is one of the largest fire services in the country,covering an area of 1,338 square miles (3,470 km2) and a population of over 1.7 million people.
The Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the West Midlands region of England. The service covers an area of 1,514 square miles (3,920 km2),and a population of around 780,000 people.
The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Shropshire,including Telford and Wrekin,in the West Midlands region of England.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland,a retained firefighter,also known as an RDS firefighter or on-call firefighter,is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time on call to respond to emergencies through the Retained Duty System. Many have full-time jobs outside of the fire service. Retained firefighters are employed and trained by the local fire and rescue service.
Sir Kenneth John Knight,is a retired British firefighter and public servant. From 2003 to 2007,he was the Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade and Commissioner for the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. From 2007 to 2013,he was the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser for England.
The New Dimension programme,sometimes referred to as the New Dimension or New Dimensions,was started by the Department for Communities and Local Government in the UK,for fire and rescue services in England and Wales,following the September 11,2001 attacks in the United States. It has provided equipment,training and standardised procedures to deal with terrorist attacks and major environmental disasters.
Ronald James Dobson,CBE,QFSM,FIFireE is a retired senior British firefighter. He was the Chief Fire Officer of the London Fire Brigade until 31 December 2016.
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing destructive fires. A firefighter fights these fires with the intent to prevent destruction of life,property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical profession,which requires years of training and education in order to become proficient. A fire can rapidly spread and endanger many lives;however,with modern firefighting techniques,catastrophe can usually be avoided. To help prevent fires from starting,a firefighter's duties include public education and conducting fire inspections. Because firefighters are often the first responders to victims in critical conditions,firefighters often also provide basic life support as emergency medical technicians or advanced life support as licensed paramedics. Firefighters make up one of the major emergency services,along with the emergency medical service,the police,and many others.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. It thus became the largest fire brigade in the United Kingdom,surpassing the London Fire Brigade.
Alasdair George Hay,is a British firefighter. He was the first Chief Fire Officer of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Sabrina Rachel Cohen-Hatton is a British firefighter,psychologist and writer. She is the Chief Fire Officer of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. In 2019 she was selected as one of Marie Claire's Future Shapers and featured on Desert Island Discs.
Alex Johnson QFSM is a British firefighter,named the "Most Influential Woman in Fire" at the Excellence in Fire and Emergency Awards in December 2019. In January 2020,she started serving as the Chief Fire Officer of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (SYFRA). When Johnson started out as a firefighter in Derbyshire in 1992,aged 24,only 1% of firefighters in the UK were women. She said:"I never saw another female firefighter from one month to the next,there were so few of us."
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is a membership body which represents area managers and above. The Council itself which meets quarterly is made up of the chief fire officers of the fire services in the United Kingdom. It replaced the Fire and Rescue Service Council. The National Fire Chiefs Council is a committee of National Fire Chiefs Council Limited (formerly Chief Fire Officers Association which is a registered charity and company. National Fire Chiefs Council Limited has a board of trustees which ensures appropriate governance and have oversight of the trading activities. Trustees have been selected to represent the range of governance models in place across the FRS:The current chair of NFCC is Mark Hardingham.
