A chief firefighter is a senior officer of a

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 ...

crew, and the driver of a

fire car A fire command vehicle, also called a fire chief car or fly car, is a vehicle used by a senior officer of a fire department to respond to firefighting incidents. Its markings typically indicate the rank of the senior officer. In the 19th centur ...

. In imperial Prussia, the title was known as ''Brandmeister'' (from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

''Brand'' - 'fire' and ''Meister'' - literally 'master'), and was the police officer and chief of a city firefighting crew. In modern Germany, there are also the posts of ''Oberbrandmeister'' (the senior ''Brandmeister'') and ''Hauptbrandmeister'' (chief ''Brandmeister''). Conditions of their service in Germany include German citizenship or citizenship of the EU, and a driver's class B license (formerly class III). In North America, this role can be fulfilled by: * ''Fire captain'', who leads firefighters based at a fire station or hall * ''Fire platoon chief'', who is in charge of a smaller team or platoon of firefighters at a fire scene * ''Fire lieutenant'', who supervises subordinate firefighters and/or operations at the scene of fires and disasters, and may perform some firefighting work

References

{{Firefighting Firefighter ranks