In the United Kingdom a Fire Authority or Fire and Rescue Authority is a body or committee which oversees the operation, policy and service delivery of a county or metropolitan fire and rescue service. Firefighter in full turn out gear with an axe DC-FEMS firefighters working a pizzeria fire in the District of Columbia A firefighter is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people, and in some areas provide emergency medical services. ...
The Fire Authority is made up of either councillors, officers or representatives from the local borough, county or metropolitan council in the georgraphical area that the fire service operates.
In simple terms a local fire authority is a body which ensures that the local fire service is doing its job properly by serving the community as it should. It means that the fire service is answerable for its actions and performance to the general public.
A Fire Safety Officer whom works in a fire safety department of a fire and rescue service actually works under the direction of the fire authorty and not the fire service. All though a fire safety officer is actually an employee of the fire service and is authorised and answerable to the chief fire officer to exercise powers of inspection, any enforcement or prosecution action taken against organisations by the fire service is actually undertaken under the name of the fire authority.
Legal experts are of the opinion that individual fireauthorities or the Fire Brigades Union could be sued for the loss of life or property if their actions can be proved to have been negligent.
If lawyers could show that a small fire, that could have been dealt with by the crew if they had been called, developed into a large fire, because they were not called, then the extra cost of the damage arising might be recoverable from the fireauthority.
The fire station has been surrounded by wholetime pickets with their cars to prevent the retained firefighters responding, and glass has been put in the boots of the retained personnel.
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