Chief Fire Officers Association


The Chief Fire Officers Association is the professional body representing senior fire officers in the United Kingdom. The organisation used to be known as the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association, it was formed in 1974 following local government re-structuring.
The CFOA website says, "CFOA's Aim is to continue as the professional voice of the UK Fire Service, assisting and supporting our members to fulfil their leadership role in improving the well being of local communities in all matters relating to the Fire Services' activities. "
Membership of the CFOA is open to any UK-based senior fire officer above the rank of assistant chief officer, in addition to Chief Fire Officer, sometimes now known as brigade managers or, in Scotland, Fire Master. The CFOA acts as a collective 'voice' for the fire services in the United Kingdom on issues such policy, training, legislative, and fire safety issues.

CFOA and FiReControl

As one example of setting policy, the CFOA has been involved in the planning process for response times for the FiReControl project. FiReControl will consolidate the number of control rooms that answer emergency calls in England from 46 to nine, by 2009. The new system will see 98% of calls answered within five seconds, exceeding the CFOA's own policy.

Policy areas

The home page of the CFOA's website has a list of current policies and initiatives, with information and press releases attached. Some of the organisation's policy areas are summarised as follows :