The following

outline Outline or outlining may refer to: * Outline (list), a document summary, in hierarchical list format * Code folding, a method of hiding or collapsing code or text to see content in outline form * Outline drawing, a sketch depicting the outer edge ...

is provided as an overview of and topical guide to firefighting:

Firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

– act of extinguishing

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

s. A

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

fights these fires to prevent destruction of life, property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical skill that requires professionals who have spent years training in both general firefighting techniques and specialized areas of expertise.

Essence of firefighting

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

Fire department A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

Firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

Types of uncontrolled fires

* fire on board * Firestorm * Structure fire *

Wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

Forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

** Brush fire

Firefighting organizations

Agencies

* Fire authority *

Fire service in the United Kingdom The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Emergency cover is provided by over fifty agencies. These are officially known as a ...

National Fire Information Council The National Fire Information Council (NFIC) is a United States agency that encourages and perpetuates the use of a standardized national incident reporting system (the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)) as a means of addressing the n ...

National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...

Fire departments

Cleveland Division of Fire The Cleveland Division of Fire provides fire protection and works with Cleveland EMS to provide emergency medical service to the city of Cleveland, Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. st ...

Fire Services Department, Hong Kong The Hong Kong Fire Services Department is an emergency service responsible for firefighting and rescue on land and sea. It also provides an emergency ambulance service for the sick and the injured and gives fire protection advice to the pub ...

London Fire Brigade 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 5,992staff, in ...

* International Association of Wildland Fire * Singapore Civil Defence Force

Unions and professional associations

Chief Fire Officers Association 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 follo ...

* Fire Brigades Union * Institution of Fire Engineers *

International Association of Fire Fighters The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is a labor union representing paid full-time firefighters and emergency medical services personnel in the United States and Canada. The IAFF was formed in 1918 and is affiliated with the AFL ...

New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) is a trade union providing professional advocacy and support for career firefighters, trainers, volunteer support officers, fire risk management officers, and fire and emergency dispatchers ...

United Firefighters Union of Australia Officially registered on 1 August 1990, the United Firefighters Union of Australia (UFUA) represents over 7000 paid firefighters. Branches of the United Firefighters Union of Australia are as follows: - UFU Australian Capital Territory - UFU ...

* UK firefighter dispute 2002-2003 * Southern African Emergency Services Institute - South Africa

Museums

London Fire Brigade Museum The London Fire Brigade Museum (temporarily housed at The Workshop, Lambeth High Street) covers the history of firefighting since 1666 (the date of the Great Fire of London). The museum houses old fire appliances and other equipment. Over ...

Training establishments

* Fire Service College

History of firefighting

History of fire brigades The history of organized firefighting began in ancient Rome while under the rule of Augustus. Prior to that, Ctesibius, a Greek citizen of Alexandria, developed the first fire pump in the third century BC, which was later improved upon in a des ...

History of fire brigades in the United Kingdom The history of fire brigades in the United Kingdom charts the development of fire services in the United Kingdom from the creation of the United Kingdom to the present day. 19th century Between the 17th century and the beginning of the 19th ce ...

* List of historic fires

General firefighting concepts

* Airport Crash Tender * Advanced life support *

Arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

* Backdraft * Basic life support * Burn *

Bunker gear Firefighters in Chicago wearing rubber three-quarter boots and jacket Firefighters in Montreal in full turnout gear during a fire Bunker gear (also known as turnout gear, fire kit and incident gear) is the personal protective equipment (PPE) ...

Combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

* Dead Man Zone *

Deluge gun A deluge gun, fire monitor, master stream or deck gun is an aimable controllable high-capacity water jet used for manual firefighting or automatic fire protection systems. Deluge guns are often designed to accommodate foam which has been inject ...

Dispatcher A dispatcher is a communications worker who receives and transmits information to coordinate operations of other personnel and vehicles carrying out a service. A number of organizations, including police and fire departments, emergency medical s ...

* Draft * Dry riser * Dry Standpipe *

Emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

Emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics are ...

Emergency service Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal wit ...

* Enhanced 911 * Evacuation * Fire apparatus * Fireboat * Fire chief's vehicle *

Fire code Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...

* Fire classes *

Fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

Fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an i ...

* Firefighter Assist and Search Team * Firefighting worldwide * Fire hazard *

Fire siren A siren is a loud noise-making device. Civil defense sirens are mounted in fixed locations and used to warn of natural disasters or attacks. Sirens are used on emergency service vehicles such as ambulances, police cars, and fire engines. There ...

Fireman's switch A fireman's switch is a specialized switch that allows firefighters to quickly disconnect power from high voltage devices that may pose a danger in the event of an emergency. According to the Institution of Electrical Engineers, any electrical d ...

* Fire hydrant * Fire inspector *

Fire lookout tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

Fireman's carry A firefighter's carry or firefighter's lift is a technique allowing one person to carry another person without assistance, by placing the carried person across the shoulders of the carrier.

* Fire Marshal *

Fire Master Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are pr ...

* Fire point *

Fire police Fire police are fire brigade/company members who, based upon their jurisdictional authority, receive sworn police powers, special training, and support firefighting efforts at emergency incidents. In addition to securing firefighting equipment, i ...

Fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

Fire-retardant material Fire-retardant materials are designed to burn slowly. Fire-retardant materials should not be confused with ''fire-resistant'' materials. A fire resistant material is one which is designed to resist burning and withstand heat. An example of a fir ...

Fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...

* Fire Service College * Fire station *

Fire tetrahedron The fire triangle or combustion triangle is a simple model for understanding the necessary ingredients for most fires. The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen). A fir ...

* Fire triangle *

Fire truck A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an i ...

Firefighter's Combat Challenge The Firefighter Combat Challenge is the only federally funded, university-based occupational health physiological research study that has become an internationally touring and televised sports event. It's a demanding 5-event physical challenge th ...

Firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

First aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

First Responder A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...

* Flash fire *

Flash point The flash point of a material is the "lowest liquid temperature at which, under certain standardized conditions, a liquid gives off vapours in a quantity such as to be capable of forming an ignitable vapour/air mixture". (EN 60079-10-1) The fl ...

* Flashover *

Forcible entry Forcible entry is "the unlawful taking of possession of real property by force or threats of force or unlawful entry into or onto another's property, especially when accompanied by force". The term is also sometimes used for entry by military, pol ...

Gaseous fire suppression Gaseous fire suppression, also called clean agent fire suppression, is a term to describe the use of inert gases and chemical agents to extinguish a fire. These agents are governed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard for C ...

Heat detector A heat detector is a fire alarm device designed to respond when the convected thermal energy of a fire increases the temperature of a heat sensitive element. The thermal mass and conductivity of the element regulate the rate flow of heat into th ...

Immolation Immolation may refer to: *Death by burning *Self-immolation, the act of burning oneself *Immolation (band), a death metal band from Yonkers, New York *''The Immolation'', a 1977 novel by Goh Poh Seng *''Dance Dance Immolation'', an interactive per ...

International Firefighters' Day International Firefighters' Day (IFFD) is observed on May 4. It was instituted after a proposal was made on January 4, 1999, following the deaths of five firefighters in tragic circumstances in a bushfire in Australia. The incident On December ...

Master stream A deluge gun, fire monitor, master stream or deck gun is an aimable controllable high-capacity water jet used for manual firefighting or automatic fire protection systems. Deluge guns are often designed to accommodate foam which has been inject ...

National Fire Incident Reporting System The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) is a system established by the National Fire Data Center of the United States Fire Administration (USFA), a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The System was established after the ...

Nomex Nomex is a flame-resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967. Properties Nomex and related aramid polymers are related to nylon, but have aromatic backbones, and hence are more rigid and mo ...

Paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

Self contained breathing apparatus A self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), sometimes referred to as a compressed air breathing apparatus (CABA) or simply breathing apparatus (BA), is a device worn to provide breathable air in an atmosphere that is immediately dangerous to ...

Short circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

Smoke detector A smoke detector is a device that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Smoke detectors are usually housed in plastic enclosures, typically shaped like a disk about in diameter and thick, but shape and size vary. Smoke can be detecte ...

* Smoke inhalation * Smokejumper *

Splash suit A hazmat suit (hazardous materials suit) is a piece of personal protective equipment that consists of an impermeable whole-body garment worn as protection against hazardous materials. Such suits are often combined with self-contained breathing ...

* Station Officer * Stop, drop and roll * Structure fire *

Super Scooper The Canadair CL-415 (Super Scooper, later Bombardier 415) and the De Havilland Canada DHC-515 are a series of amphibious aircraft built originally by Canadair and subsequently by Bombardier and Viking Air, and De Havilland Canada. The CL-415 ...

Two-in, two-out In firefighter, firefighting, the policy of two-in, two-out refers to United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) policy 29 CFR 1910.134(g)(4)(i) The respiratory protection standard requires that workers engaged in fighting ...

* Uncontrolled fire * Ventilation *

Volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...

* Water tender * Wetdown *

* World Police and Fire Games

Policy and legislation

Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser The title and job role of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services in England, Scotland and Wales is combined with that known as Fire and Rescue Adviser (or Government Fire and Rescue Adviser) appointed by the devolved and natio ...

* Fire authority *

Fire Brigades Act 1938 The Fire Brigades Act 1938 (in force until 1941, repealed 1947) was the primary legislation for Great Britain, excluding London, that placed responsibility for the provision of a fire brigade onto the local authority, and away from the insurance co ...

Fire Services Act 1947 The Fire Services Act 1947 was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised fire services in the United Kingdom. It disbanded the National Fire Service and returned the responsibility for running fire services to local authorities ...

Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c 21), sometimes abbreviated as FRSA 2004, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into effect on 1 October 2004. It only applies to Great Britain and most provisions apply only in Engl ...

* Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland *

History of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom The history of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom formally covers the period from the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 but is founded in the history of such legislation in England and Wales, and Sco ...

Independent Review of the Fire Service The Independent Review of the Fire Service, sometimes referred to as the Bain Report or IRFS was a wide-ranging report carried out by Professor Sir George Bain, in 2002, at the request of the government, into the how Fire and Rescue Services were ...

* Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Operational command and procedures

* Gold Silver Bronze command structure * FiReControl *

FireLink Firelink or FireLink is a wide area radio system in England, Wales, and Scotland for fire services. The system which supports both voice and data communication was designed to replace a patchwork of analogue systems with a modern wider area digita ...

* New Dimension programme

Firefighting lists

Glossary of firefighting terms : ''Note: This list does not include firefighting equipment, i.e., tools and apparatus used by firefighters. Please refer to Glossary of firefighting equipment for such terms. Similarly, although there is much overlap, you may also want to refer to ...

* List of UK public fire and rescue services * Glossary of firefighting equipment *

Glossary of wildland fire terms This glossary of wildfire terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to wildfires and wildland firefighting. Except where noted, terms have largely been sourced from a 1998 Fireline Handbook transcribed for a Conflict 21 counte ...

* List of historic fires * List of firefighting films

External links

CDC - NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program
{{Firefighting