What does a fire chief do?

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

A Fire Chief's responsibility is to maintain the fire station's efficient response, the working order of all equipment, and all staff's readiness. They meet with the fire board to discuss the safety directives for the community. The Fire Chief's responsibility to the community is to ensure the area, provide a speedy response during emergencies, and offer the community the security they need against devastating fires. It is also required for them to have constant communication with the community and inform them of all policies relating to fire prevention.

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Fire chief responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real fire chief resumes:

Manage the combat logistics operations center's daily operations and ensure efficient information flow between internal and external organizations.
Determine appropriate control techniques and direct firefighting teams during numerous fire, hazardous material releases and medical emergencies.
Respond to fires, medical, HAZMAT, bombs and threat calls.
Maintain and inspect the SCBA equipment.
Conduct departmental assessments in accordance with DoD, standards.
Provide emergency medical care including first-aid and CPR to victims.
Certify in CPR, medical assessment, a and vehicle extraction.
Assign to engine, ladder and ALS rescue vehicles during tenure.
Supervise the coordination, preparations and conduct training of personnel, weapons and equipment for combat movements.
Plan and employ use of artillery, rotary/fixed-wing aircraft, and mortars in support of maneuver operations.
Develop, mentore, and counsele platoon members while building strong team cohesion, discipline, and morale.
Request the needed additional resources during an emergency incident, interpret NFPA codes to effectively correct fire prevention and inspection hazards.
Conduct and verify inventories on platoon equipment.
Coordinate training with grind combat elements enablers in support of battalion operations.
Direct maintenance, repair, certification, improvement and replacement of firefighting equipment and all other department property.

Fire chief skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Fire Chiefs are proficient in Fire Protection, Emergency Response, and Public Safety. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Detail oriented, and Physical strength.

We break down the percentage of Fire Chiefs that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Fire Protection, 10%
Designed and implemented department Officer Development Program in accordance with established National Fire Protection/International Association of Fire Chiefs guidelines.
Emergency Response, 8%
Coordinated emergency response to major incidents including fires, mass casualty incidents, hazardous materials incidents, natural disasters and others.
Public Safety, 8%
Developed fire contingency plans for a growing community where public safety issues commonly lagged behind annexation and growth.
Fire Service, 5%
Completed study and certification as Fire Service Financial Manager.
Fire Suppression, 5%
Specify and procure necessary equipment and personal protection equipment for fire suppression operations
Emergency Services, 4%
Directed department's response to natural disasters, calls for emergency service, hazardous material incidents and other catastrophic incidents.

Most fire chiefs use their skills in "fire protection," "emergency response," and "public safety" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential fire chief responsibilities here:

Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a fire chief to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what fire chiefs do because "fire inspectors must clearly explain fire code violations to building and property managers." Additionally, a fire chief resume shows how fire chiefs use communication skills: "served as president of the county fire chiefs association and the radio communication network. "

Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling fire chief duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "fire inspectors must notice minutiae when inspecting sites for code violations or fire risks or for investigating the cause of a fire." According to a fire chief resume, here's how fire chiefs can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "write detailed fire inspection reports on fire code compliance of existing structures. "

Physical strength. fire chiefs are also known for physical strength, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to fire chief responsibilities, because "fire investigators may have to move debris at the site of a fire in order to get a more accurate understanding of the scene." A fire chief resume example shows how physical strength is used in the workplace: "soldier team development, army physical fitness training, weapons qualification, career development courses, live fire training). "

Most common fire chief skills

The three companies that hire the most fire chiefs are:

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Compare different fire chiefs

Fire chief vs. Company commander

In the military, a company commander serves as the commanding officer to a unit of soldiers. They are primarily in charge of overseeing every soldiers' performance and the overall company's daily progress, taking responsibility for every activity and outcome. As a company commander, they have to set goals and schedules, establish discipline and order among every member, delegate tasks and responsibilities, and ensure their welfare. Moreover, they facilitate training to sharpen the company's skills in different fields.

We looked at the average fire chief salary and compared it with the wages of a company commander. Generally speaking, company commanders are paid $39,296 higher than fire chiefs per year.Even though fire chiefs and company commanders are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require training programs, personnel management, and dod in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, fire chief responsibilities require skills like "fire protection," "emergency response," "public safety," and "fire service." Meanwhile a typical company commander has skills in areas such as "logistical support," "combat," "professional development," and "property accountability." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

The education levels that company commanders earn slightly differ from fire chiefs. In particular, company commanders are 5.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a fire chief. Additionally, they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Fire chief vs. Station captain

On average, station captains earn a $14,647 lower salary than fire chiefs a year.A few skills overlap for fire chiefs and station captains. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "fire protection," "emergency response," and "emt. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real fire chief resumes. While fire chief responsibilities can utilize skills like "public safety," "fire service," "fire suppression," and "emergency services," station captains use skills like "occupational safety," "incident command," "haz-mat," and "emergency vehicle."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Station captains tend to reach similar levels of education than fire chiefs. In fact, they're 2.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Fire chief vs. Chief of fire prevention

An average chief of fire prevention eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of fire chiefs. The difference in salaries amounts to chiefs of fire prevention earning a $18,270 lower average salary than fire chiefs.Using the responsibilities included on fire chiefs and chiefs of fire prevention resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "fire protection," "nfpa," and "firefighting.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, fire chiefs are more likely to have skills like "emergency response," "public safety," "fire service," and "fire suppression." But a chief of fire prevention is more likely to have skills like "fire prevention," "life safety," "community health," and "hazardous materials."

Chiefs of fire prevention typically earn higher educational levels compared to fire chiefs. Specifically, they're 7.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Fire chief vs. Fire prevention supervisor

Fire prevention supervisors average a lower salary than the annual salary of fire chiefs. The difference is about $12,020 per year.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A fire chief uses "fire protection," "emergency response," "public safety," and "fire service." Fire prevention supervisors are more likely to have duties that require skills in "fire prevention," "administrative supervision," "community events," and "computer fraud. "In general, fire prevention supervisors hold similar degree levels compared to fire chiefs. Fire prevention supervisors are 1.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of fire chief

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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