Chief fireman — is a senior officer of a firefighting crew, the driver of fire car. In imperial Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

, the title was known as brandmeister (from German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 Brand - "fire" and Meister - literally "master") and was the police officer, the chief of one of city fire-fighting crews. In modern German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, there are also posts of oberbrandmeister (the senior brandmeister) and hauptbrandmeister (chief brandmeister). Conditions of their service in Germany, besides other, include German citizenship

Citizenship

Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...

 or citizenship of EU and the driver's class B license (earlier - class III).

In North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, this role can be that of:

• Fire Captain - who leads a fire fighters from a station or hall
• Fire Platoon Chief who is in charge of smaller team or platoon
  Platoon
  A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
  
  of firefighters at a fire scene
• Fire Lieutenant who supervises subordinate firefighters and/or operations at the scene of fires and disasters and may perform some firefighting work