Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on January 23, 2009 at 5:46pm

My department colors:
chief-lieutenants- white helmet with white shield

safety offs- orange helmet with white shield

rit offs- black helmet with white shield

firefighters- black helmet with blue shield

It works for us.

Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on February 2, 2009 at 1:25am

For many years we had Chief and Astt Chiefs in White, Capts in Red, Lieuts in Orange and FF in Yellow. Recently we changed the intire Dept over to the new Cairns helmet similar to the Leather old style. We met the ability to distinguish factor by the color of the Glow-flex tetrahedrons around the helmet. Plus the Helmet fronts identify the rank and color. This has worked well in our situation.

Permalink Reply by Chris Moore on February 6, 2009 at 5:40pm

Chief = white
Captains = white
LT's = red
FF -black
probies = yellow

In our department the LT's are the company officers and the captains really do the job of battalions hence they wear the White hats.

Permalink Reply by Scott M. Kibler on February 6, 2009 at 6:26pm

We keep it pretty simple, We don't have any Captains or Lt's. Just Chief, asst. Chiefs ,Interior and exterior and the helmets are as follows

White- Chief and asst.'s 1 Chief ----- 4 asst. Chiefs
Black- Interior (meaning anybody that can pack up)
Yellow- Exterior or Scene support

Permalink Reply by Bob Lloyd on February 7, 2009 at 9:10pm

I agree with what others have already post here it is not the color of your helmet that makes you an officer. If that is all you are looking for as an officer perhaps you should look to another profession. As a Chief Officer I do like the use of helmet color to set the members apart on the fire ground. If I am looking for a team leader or an officer to handle a task I cannot always see helmet fronts quickly. I can see a colored helmet from a distance and know that is perhaps the person that I need. I work with a neighboring department that uses red helmets for all their fire fighters and black for the volunteer members. We use white for chiefs, red for officers, black for fire fighters and black with an orange shield for probationary fire fighters.

Permalink Reply by Mike Wilson on February 13, 2009 at 11:02pm

Wow! This is a very interesting topic. As I see it, the question is two fold. The color to identify the rank structure of the Department and the willingness or not to change. The cost factor always falls back on the Department because it handles all the safety equipment. So let's look at the first question. The rank structure, is there a standard for your Department, County, or even the Departments around you? If not, be proactive and help to make one. One big fires where you ask for help, it's nice to know who the Chief Officers are as well as the line Officers. It really makes it a lot easier for the IC/Operations to be able to pick that out right away. It is also very helpful for the Firefighters to be able to zero in on who the Officers are. Remember it's hard to see a face thru a mask, but the color of the helmet is very identifiable. I have been in the Fire Service for 30 years. The area that always seems to give people heartburn is when change is made and they don't like change. In my experence, if you can't change the color to provide for overall safety, direction and the good of the Department. The real change needs to come in the form of stepping aside and place their helmet on a plaque with a big Thank you for your Service! The Fire Profession is based on giving! We give to the people we serve. We do not give to the glory of ourselves. Some Departments run better with 10 dedicated personnel rather than 50 self centered personnel.

Permalink Reply by Lt. Hanks on February 15, 2009 at 6:00am

Chief/Asst. Chief - White
Safety Ofc.-Orange
Captains - Lieutenants - Sergeants (line officers) Red
Firefighters - Black
Probies - Black with Yellow Font
County wide.
All EMS trained personel have a blue reflective star of life on both sides of helmet. Makes it easy on EMS, lol.

Permalink Reply by Damon Wisom on February 20, 2009 at 9:19pm

Hi Andrew,
My name is Damon Wisdom, and I work for Smyrna Fire Rescue here in Georgia. Our colors are as follows;

Chief/Assistant Chief and Captains- White
Lieutenants - Red
All others - Black

I can only echo the other comments on this as from the others. If the color of your helmet is the only thing that distinguishes you as a leader, you have problems (Not speaking of you personally, "you" is a general statement). There is a difference between being a supervisor and a leader. Colors only depict rank, not leadership...

Permalink Reply by Capt. Tom on March 2, 2009 at 10:18pm

In my department:
White = Chief Officers
Green = Safety Officer
Red = Line Officers (capt. & lt.)
Black = Firefighters
Blue = EMS
Yellow = probies
Orange = Fire police

Permalink Reply by Scott on March 3, 2009 at 12:01pm

When our current Chief took over in 1996 all the different color helmets drove him nuts. He said we looked like a box of crayons going down the road to a fire.
We had:
Chiefs = White
Captains = Red
Lt's = Some all Blue some Blue with a white brim
the next two weren't universally follow either some full time were in black and vice versa
Full time FF's & Driver Yellow
Paid on call FF's/Drivers/Squad leader Black
Rescue helmets were Orange
Hazmat helmets were Green

Now we have:
Chiefs = White
All other ranks are in Black only the leather front piece is different for the ranks.
Capt's, Lt's & EMS officers White with appropriate title
Drivers, FF's, Cadets, Interns & Explorers Black with appropriate titles
Cadets, interns and explorers have different gear & uniforms so they stand out on the fire ground
We have a few civilian employees and volunteers ( Pub ed and special friends of the dept) are given Yellow helmets being honorary members.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Benton on March 3, 2009 at 4:34pm

I AGREE THE COLOR OF YOUR HELMET DOSEN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HOW WELL YOU DO YOUR JOB. I RUN WITH A SMALL DEPT IN N.C. OUR COLORS ARE CHIEF'S WHITE, CAPT YELLOW, MEMBERS BLACK AND TRAINEES ARE RED.

Permalink Reply by Lt. Ballinger on March 3, 2009 at 4:46pm

We approached this idea before and decided that by the time we get the helmet to fit comfortably you would be promoted or demoted so we do Chief's-White Everyone else-Black. We change the front shield depending on what you are assigned to. Red-Truck Co Black- Engine Co Blue- Squad All officers have whire shield with the corrosponding color background. Example mine is White shield with Red background and number.

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