List of comparative firefighting ranks

New rank structure as of 2015:[1]

	Officers (Higher cadre)				NCOs (Middle cadre)		Enlisted (Basic cadre)
Insignia
French	Colonel	Major	Capitaine	Lieutenant	Adjudant	Sergent	Caporal	Sapeur-pompier
Dutch	Kolonel	Majoor	Kapitein	Luitenant	Adjudant	Sergeant	Korporaal	Brandweerman

Obsolete ranks:

	Officers (Higher cadre)			NCOs (Middle cadre)
Insignia
French	Lieutenant-colonel	Capitaine-commandant	Sous-lieutenant	Adjudant-chef	Sergent-major	Premier Sergent
Dutch	Luitenant-Kolonel	Kapitein-Commandant	Onder-luitenant	Opperadjudant	Sergeant-majoor	Eerste sergeant

Officers

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Military Firefighters Corps
							Comandante Geral		Comandante segundo		Coronel		Tenente-coronel		Major		Capitão		Primeiro tenente			Segundo tenente			Aspirante

NCO and enlisted grades

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Military Firefighters Corps
	Subtenente										Primeiro-sargento						Segundo-sargento			Terceiro-sargento			Cabo						Bombeiro primeira classe						Bombeiro segunda classe

A chief and platoon chief coordinate activities on site of a house fire in Vaughan, Ontario

Ranks amongst Canadian firefighters vary across the country and ranking appears mostly with larger departments:

Toronto

Rank	Fire chief	Deputy fire chief	Division commander	Platoon chief	District chief	Captain	First class firefighter	Second class firefighter	Probationary firefighter
Insignia							None	None	None

Montreal

Vancouver

	Fire chief	Deputy fire chief	Assistant chief	Battalion chief	Training officer	Captain	Lieutenant	Firefighter	Probationary firefighter
Rank epaulettes								No insignia	No insignia
Rank pins								No insignia	No insignia

Ranks are divided between company officers and fire department officers, which can be subdivided between active officers (field officers) and administrative officers. The active officers are the captain, and three or four lieutenants, these four active officers are distinguished by red lines on their helmets.

Rank insignia of a lieutenant of the Paris Fire Brigade

The Paris Fire Brigade belongs to the army and uses army ranks with the corps of engineers badge. The commanding officer has the rank of divisional general. The Marseille Naval Fire Battalion belongs to the navy and uses naval ranks. The commanding officer has the rank of rear admiral. Civilian fire services uses the following ranks. The chief fire officer of a departemental fire brigade can be a comptroller general, a colonel senior class or a colonel, depending on the size of the brigade.

	Ministry of Interior			Civilian professional firefighters class A+		Civilian professional firefighters class A			Civilian professional firefighters class B
	Directeur Général de la sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises	Directeur des sapeurs-pompiers (directeur adjoint du DGSCGC)	Contrôleur général (officiers investis de responsabilités particulières envers l'État)	Contrôleur général	Colonel hors-classe Colonel	Lieutenant-Colonel	Commandant	Capitaine	Lieutenant hors classe Lieutenant de 1re classe Lieutenant de 2e classe

	Civilian professional firefighters class C
	Adjudant-Chef	Adjudant	Sergent-Chef	Sergent	Caporal-Chef	Caporal	Sapeur de 1re classe	Sapeur de 2e classe

In Germany every federal state has its own civil protection laws thus they have different rank systems. Additionally, in the volunteer fire departments, there is a difference between a rank and an official position. This is founded on the military traditions of the fire departments. Every firefighter can hold a high rank without having an official position. A firefighter can be promoted by years of service, training skills and qualifications. Official positions are partly elected or given by capabilities. These conditions allow that older ordinary firefighters have higher ranks than their leaders. But through this ranks are no authorities given (Brevet).

Professional fire fighters (middle technical grades) of Rheinland-Pfalz

Completed vocational training in a technical occupation suitable for the fire service. Basic firefighter training.

Brandmeister/-in während der Laufbahnausbildung	Brandmeister	Oberbrandmeister	Hauptbrandmeister

Professional fire fighters (upper technical grades) of Rheinland-Pfalz

Bachelor of engineering and two years departmental training

Brandinspektorenanwärter	Brandinspektor	Brandoberinspektor	Brandamtmann	Brandamtsrat	Brandoberamtsrat

Professional fire fighters (higher technical grades) of Rheinland-Pfalz

Master of engineering and two years of departmental training

Brandreferendar	Brandrat	Oberbrandrat	Branddirektor	Leitender Branddirektor Ministerialrat	Leitender Ministerialrat	Landesfeuerwehrinspekteur

Helmet insignia of Rheinland-Pfalz

Company leaders	Upper technical grades, battalion chiefs	Higher technical grades, fire chiefs

In the Indian fire services, the ranks and hierarchy may vary slightly across different states and organizations. The specific rank names and their corresponding responsibilities may vary across different states and organizations in India. The following ranks are commonly found in indian fire departments. [3]

• Director General, Fire and Rescue Services (Head of the department) (IPS Cadre officer in the rank of DGP)
• Director/Additional Director
• Regional Fire Officer/ Divisional Officer/Joint Director
• District Fire Officer
• Station Officer, (In-charge of fire stations)
• Assistant Station Officer
• Senior Fire and Rescue officer/Senior Fireman/Leading Fireman
• Fire and rescue officer/Fireman/ Fireman (Driver), (This is the entry-level position in the fire service.)

Firefighters in Indonesia form part of the civil service of local governments and wear variant forms of uniforms worn by civil servants and employees.

Iranian insignia

In Iran, every city has its own fire department, but ranks are the same in the whole country, and are as follows:

In Ireland, the traditional British and Commonwealth brigade rank structure is used, across the 26 counties.

Fire and rescue services are provided by 26 County Councils to the 26 counties of Ireland, and by three city councils with unitary authority status (those of Dublin, Cork, and Galway) within their respective cities. By agreement, the Dublin Fire Brigade provides cover to both the city and the county. Similarly, Galway City Council and Galway County Council have an agreement for the provision of a single fire and rescue service. Only Cork has separate services - Cork City Fire Brigade in the City of Cork, and Cork County Fire Service in the wider County of Cork. In each of the other 23 counties of Ireland a single fire and rescue service covers the whole county, including all large towns and cities, as those 23 county councils are unitary authorities for the entire county jurisdiction.

Structure	County brigades		Dublin City Brigade[4]
Rank	Insignia	Helmet	Insignia	Helmet
Firefighter		Yellow		Yellow
Leading firefighter or driver mechanic		Yellow, one 12 mm horizontal black stripe	This rank is not used in Dublin
Sub officer		Yellow, two 12 mm horizontal black stripes		Yellow, two 12 mm horizontal black stripes
Station officer		White, one 19 mm horizontal black stripe		White, one 12 mm horizontal black stripe
District officer (operations) or district FPO	These ranks are not used in counties			White, one 19 mm horizontal black stripe
Third officer (operations) or executive FPO	These ranks are not used in counties			White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)
Second officer (operations) or senior executive FPO	These ranks are not used in counties			White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)
Assistant chief fire officer		White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)		White, two horizontal black stripes (one 19 mm, one 12 mm)
Senior assistant chief fire officer		White, one 38 mm horizontal broad black stripe	This rank is not used in Dublin
Chief fire officer		White, two 38 mm horizontal broad black stripes		White, one 38 mm horizontal broad black stripe
Key: FPO = fire prevention officer

Officers

	Rav tafsar (רב טפסר)		Tafsar (טפסר)		Tat tafsar (תת טפסר)		Tafsar mishne (טפסר משנה)		Segan tafsar (סגן טפסר)		Ráv Reshef (רב רשף)		Reshef (רשף)		Lahav (להב)			Lahav mishne (להב משנה)
English	Lieutenant general firefighter		Major general firefighter		Brigadier general firefighter		Colonell firefighter		Lieutenant colonel firefighter		Major firefighter		Captain firefighter		First lieutenant firefighter			Second lieutenant firefighter

Other Ranks

	Rav semel bakhir kabai (רב-סמל בכיר-כבאי)	Rav semel rishon kabai (רב-סמל ראשון-כבאי)	Rav semel kabai (רב-סמל-כבאי)		Semel kabai (סמל כבאי)						Rav kabai (רב כבאי)						Lokhem esh rishon (לוחם אש ראשון)				Lokhem esh (לוחם אש)
English	Sergeant major firefighter	Master sergeant firefighter	Sergeant 1st class firefighter		Sergeant firefighter						Corporal firefighter						Senior firefighter				Firefighter

The Japanese fire department's rank insignias are place on a small badge and pinned above the right pocket. Rank is told by stripes and hexagram stars. The design of the insignias came from older Japanese style military insignias. Officers and team leaders could wear an arm band on the arm of fire jacket to show status as command leader. Sometimes rank can be shown as different a color fire jacket for command staff. The color whites and gray are reserved for EMS. Orange is reserved for rescuers.

Professional fire departments

Fire fighter	Assistant fire sergeant	Fire sergeant
Fire lieutenant	Fire captain	Battalion chief
Assistant chief	First assistant chief	Deputy chief
Fire chief

Volunteer fire departments

Volunteer fire fighter	Volunteer crew chief
Volunteer company chief	Volunteer assistant battalion chief	Volunteer battalion chief
Volunteer assistant chief	Volunteer fire chief

In New Zealand, rank is shown on epaulettes on firefighters' station uniform, and through colors and stripes on firefighter helmets. As the nation only has a single fire department, the New Zealand Fire Service, ranks are consistent through the country.

Officer ranks

Corpului Pompierilor

Mareșal

General

General-locotenent

General-maior

General de brigadă

Colonel

Locotenent-colonel

Maior

Căpitan

Locotenent

Sublocotenent

Other ranks

Corpului Pompierilor

Plutonier adjutant șef

Plutonier adjutant

Plutonier-major

Plutonier

Sergent-major

Sergent

A Russian firefighter with a head of duty shift fire station helmet.

In the Russian Federation, the decals are applied symmetrically on both sides of the helmet (front and rear). The location of the decals on the special clothing and SCBA is established for each fire department of the same type within the administrative entity. The following ranks are used by State Fire Service civilian personnel worn on all forms of dress, while military personnel use ranks similar to those of the Police of Russia, due to their pre-2001 history as the fire service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation before all firefighting services were transferred to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Federal Fire Service of EMERCOM helmet insignia

Officers

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Singapore Civil Defence Force[7]
					Commissioner		Deputy commissioner		Senior assistant commissioner	Assistant commissioner	Colonel		Lieutenant colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			Second lieutenant			Officer cadet

Warrant officers

Equivalent NATO rank	WO-5		WO-4		WO-3		WO-2		WO-1
Singapore Civil Defence Force[7]
					Warrant officer 2		Warrant officer 1

Other ranks

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Singapore Civil Defence Force[7]
																	Sergeant 3		Sergeant 2		Sergeant 1				Corporal		Lance corporal								Private	Recruit

Officer grades

Rank epaulettes
Rank	Oberst	Oberstleutnant	Major	Hauptmann	Oberleutnant	Leutnant

Other grades

Rank epaulettes
Rank	Adjutant Unteroffizier	Feldweibel	Fourier	Wachtmeister	Korporal	Gefreiter	Soldat	Rekrut / Aspirant

Tunisian firefighter's ranks are the same as the army, police and national guard.

An American firefighter with a lieutenant's helmet

Typical rank insignia for an American fire department

In the United States, helmet colors often denote a fire fighter's rank or position. In general, white helmets denote chief officers, such as battalion chiefs, division chiefs, etc. while red helmets may denote company officers, such as captains, lieutenants, etc. but the specific meaning of a helmet's color or style varies from region to region and department to department. The rank of an officer in an American fire department is most commonly denoted by a number of speaking trumpets, a reference to a megaphone-like device used in the early days of the fire service, although typically called "bugle" in today's parlance. Ranks proceed from one (lieutenant) to five (fire chief) bugles. Traditional ranks in American fire departments that exist but may not always be utilized in all cities or towns include:

Rank	Insignia
Firefighter	No bugles
Engineer/technician/apparatus operator	3 chevrons
Lieutenant
Captain	or less usually:
Battalion chief/district chief	or less usually side by side
Division chief or assistant chief/deputy assistant chief/deputy assistant commissioner/assistant deputy commissioner
Deputy chief/deputy commissioner
Chief/commissioner

In many fire departments in the U.S., the captain is commonly the commander of a company and a lieutenant is the supervisor of the company's firefighters on shift. There is no state or federal rank structure for firefighters and each municipality or volunteer fire department creates and uses their own unique structure.

Some other American fire departments such as the FDNY (New York City Fire Department) use military rank insignia in addition to or instead of the traditional bugles. Additionally, officers on truck companies have been known to use rank insignias shaped like axes for lieutenants (one) and captains (two).