Our History

Ranks

The names, insignia, structure and uniform of the ranks in our Unit have changed
many times since we were founded in 1933, particularly since 1984.

From 1933 until 1984

The ranks instituted when the Unit (Corps) was founded in 1933 endured for more than 50 years. The Officer in Charge was Captain, the officers Lieutenants, except that in 1959 the rank of Deputy Captain was added. The Captain wore 3 impellers, the Deputy Captain 2 and Lieutenants, 1.

In 1963 Chief Fire Officer Gordon Drummond decided there should be another "rank" added in the Unit, that of Control Officer, directly under the Deputy Captain. The holder's task was explained at the time as "organising those in attendance at various incidents". In fact there was only ever one Control Officer, Ralph Wildish, who held the job for 4 years until his retirement, when the position was discontinued. It's suspected the title and ranking was created as personal recognition in the twilight of his long association with fire brigades in Gisborne and Auckland.

Captain	Deputy Captain	Lieutenant	Constable
Fire Police shoulder flashes were issued to all members for their uniform jackets. Until 1967, the lettering on the epaulettes was yellow.		All members

From 1984 until 1996

The Officer in Charge was Divisional Officer, (3 impellers on epaulettes), there were 3 Senior Station Officers (2 impellers) and 10 Station Officers (1 impeller). The 1984 change was to standardise nomenclature and structure with the national Fire Service, which also meant that the wording "Fire Police" on epaulettes was replaced with "New Zealand Fire Service".

Divisional Officer

Snr Station Officer

Station Officer

Constable

1996 to 2011

These ranks and insignia came in to force in 1996 to regularise with the Fire Service structure.

Chief Fire Officer	Dep. Chief Fire Officer	Station Officer	Constable
From 1999 to 2002 the Station Officer rank was replaced with the rank "Fire Officer". The epaulette displayed a single impeller with laurel leaves either side. After 2002, the Fire Service returned to using the rank "Station Officer".		Fire Officer

2011 - 2018

On October 29, 2011, Fire Police changed, known as Operational Support. This meant the rank Fire Police Constable was no longer appropriate: the New Zealand Fire Service deemed members would take fire fighter ranks, each suffixed by the words (Operational Support).

Chief Fire Officer	Dep. Chief Fire Officer	Senior Station Officer	Station Officer
Senior Firefighter	Qualified Firefighter	Firefighter / Recruit Firefighter

2018 - Present

Fire and Emergency issued new uniform to the Brigade in early 2018. Rank insignia remained as above but the words New Zealand Fire Service were dropped from the epaulettes.