Leading firefighter


Leading firefighter is a rank in the London Fire Brigade. It used to be in all British fire services. Ranked between firefighter and sub-officer. A leading firefighter was usually in charge of a single fire appliance. The badge of rank was one white or silver bar on the epaulettes, the helmet was yellow with one 12.5mm black stripe on it.
There were referred to as "LF" on station and the fire ground.
With the move from a rank based structure to a role based structure, the rank of leading firefighter has disappeared. Those who held the rank are now called crew manager or crew commander and wear the insignia of the old sub-officer rank.
On 11 October 2019, the London Fire Brigade reverted to the rank system, bring back the original Leading Firefighter, Sub Officer and Station Officer ranks.
Crew manager/crew commander is a rank that amalgamated the two previous ranks of leading fireman and sub officer in the Fire Service.