Captain is a rank in various fire services. In most American and Canadian fire services, a captain ranks above a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

and below a battalion chief, and therefore two grades above a regular firefighter. This varies, though, between departments – In the

Los Angeles County Fire Department The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting and emergency medical services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, California, as well as 59 cities through Contract city, contracting, including the city of ...

, for example, engineer is the next lowest rank below captain. A captain is typically in charge of a fire company, a group of firefighters who are assigned to the same

fire apparatus A firefighting apparatus (North American English) or firefighting appliance (UK English) describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the d ...

. The captain is responsible for the welfare and performance of the company's personnel and the maintenance of the apparatus. In a single-apparatus fire station, the captain is also the overall manager of the station. Fire departments typically arrange the shifts so that a captain can be present at most emergencies. Besides those who work at fire stations, captains are employed in other roles such as managing training. The rank of captain does not always have a direct equivalent in the United Kingdom and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries outside of Canada. These fire services are more often organized around a "watch". Whereas a company is a group of firefighters who work different shifts on the same apparatus, a watch is a group of firefighters who work the same shift on more than one apparatus. Like a captain in American and Canadian fire departments, the watch manager is two grades above a regular firefighter. In the

New Zealand Fire Service The New Zealand Fire Service (, "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 ...

in the early 1980s, a captain was in charge of a station. The NZFS has now moved to senior station officer and station officer as station management ranks. The person in charge of a fire brigade is the

chief fire officer Chief fire officer (CFO), formerly often just chief officer or county fire officer, is 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 t ...

, and captain is no longer used.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fire Captain Firefighter ranks