page_title: Fire department
section_title: Organization
hierarchical_section_title: Fire department / Organization
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Einsatzfahrzeuge der Feuerwehr und der Rettungsdienste in Altenbeken English: Emergency vehicles of fire and rescue services
context_page_description: A fire department or fire brigade, also known as a fire authority or fire service, is an organization that provides firefighting services. In some areas, they may also provide technical rescue, fire protection, fire investigation, and emergency medical services.
  Fire departments are most commonly a public sector organization that operate within a municipality, county, state, nation, or special district. Private and specialist firefighting organizations also exist, such as those for aircraft rescue and firefighting.
  A fire department contains one or more fire stations within its boundaries, and may be staffed by firefighters, who may be professional, volunteers, conscripts, or on-call. Combination fire departments employ a mix of professional and volunteer firefighters.
context_section_description: Fire departments are organized in a system of administration, services, training, and operations; for example:
  Administration is responsible for supervision, budgets, policy, and human resources.
  Service offers protection, safety, and education to the public.
  Training prepares skilled people with the knowledge to perform their duties.
  Operations performs the tasks to successfully save the public from harm.
  A fire service is normally set up where it can have fire stations and sophisticated fire engines strategically deployed throughout the area it serves, so that dispatchers can send fire engines, fire trucks, or ambulances from the fire stations closest to the incident. Larger departments have branches within themselves to increase efficiency, composed of volunteers, support, and research.
  Volunteers give advantages to the department in a state of emergency.
  Support organizing the resources within and outside of the department.
  Research is to give advantages in new technologies for the department.
caption: Emergency fire & rescue vehicles of the German fire services.
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