Chief fireman — is a senior officer of a firefighting crew, the driver of fire car. In imperial Prussia, the title was known as brandmeister (from German Brand - "fire" and Meister - literally "master") and was the police officer, the chief of one of city fire-fighting crews. In modern German, there are also posts of oberbrandmeister (the senior brandmeister) and hauptbrandmeister (chief brandmeister). Conditions of their service in Germany, besides other, include German citizenship or citizenship of EU and the driver's class B license (earlier - class III).
In North America, this role can be that of:
- Fire Captain - who leads a fire fighters from a station or hall
- Fire Platoon Chief who is in charge of 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
Famous quotes containing the word chief:
“The necessary has never been man’s top priority. The passionate pursuit of the nonessential and the extravagant is one of the chief traits of human uniqueness. Unlike other forms of life, man’s greatest exertions are made in the pursuit not of necessities but of superfluities.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)