The rank of Chief Fire Officer or CFO is the highest in the Fire Service in England and Wales. Its equivalent in Scotland is Fire Master, although this title has been replaced by Chief Fire Officer in some Scotish brigades. Other titles for this office can include 'County Fire Officer' (no longer widely used) and 'Chief Executive' (a recent style that remains a rarity). In the London Fire Brigade, the CFO is known as 'Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade' - the post is currently held by Sir Ken Knight. Firefighter with an axe A firefighter, sometimes still called a fireman though women have increasingly joined firefighting units, is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people and in some areas provide emergency medical services. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78... A Fire Master is the highest ranking or commanding officer in a fire service in Scotland. ... The London Fire Brigade (LFB) provides fire fighting and rescue services in London, UK. It is the third largest fire department in the world with nearly 7000 staff. ...

The name of the rank is being changed by some UK fire services to 'Brigade manager' as part of an on-going modernisation of the fire service in the UK. CFO's do occasionally attend major incidents, in December 2005, the CFO of Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, Roy Wilsher, spent a great deal of time at the Buncefield oil storage depot. He also hosted press conferences and was part of the major incident gold command team. The Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, known locally as the Buncefield oil depot, is an oil depot located on the edge of Hemel Hempstead (grid reference TL087084) to the north of London in the United Kingdom. ... A joint press conference by U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House. ... It has been suggested that Gold Command be merged into this article or section. ...

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 CFO 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 CFO 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. The collective voice for CFOs on policy, planning and strategy in the UK is the CFOA or Chief Fire Officers' Association. Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Many CFOs join Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate, or HMFSI which is a government agency directly under the control of the Department for Communities and Local Government or DfCLG. The rank of appointment is known as HMFSI - separate arrangemnts exist in Scotland. Inspectors are uniformed and seen to be superior to that of a Chief Fire Officer, however they have no power to directly command front line fire crews.

A Chief Fire Officer is assisted by one Deputy Chief Fire Officer and a number of 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.

See also

• Fire Service in the UK