A firefighter, also called a fireman or firewoman, although these terms have fallen from use in many countries, is trained and equipped for firefighting, extinguishing fires and heat emitting chemical incidents.

Increasingly a firefighter is also a rescuer, trained and equipped to rescue people from car accidents, collapsed buildings and many more situations.

The increasing complexity of modern industrialized life with an increase in the scale and complexity of hazards faced has stimulated both advances in firefighting technology and a broadening of the firefighter-rescuer's remit.

Firefighters sometimes provide emergency medical services.

The fire service, or fire and rescue service also known in some countries as the fire brigade or fire department, is one of the emergency services.

A firefighter is also called a fireman or firewoman, although these terms have fallen from use in many countries.

Firefighting and firefighters have become ubiquitous around the world, from urban areas to wildland areas, and on board ships.

Not all firefighters are paid for their services. 

In some countries, including the United States, Canada, Finland, Australia, and New Zealand, there are often paid, or "career" firefighters working.

Additionally, there are volunteer and "retained" firefighters who are paid for the specific time they are responding to emergencies, Permanent Part time career firefighters on call 24/7. 

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the use of retained firefighters who are part-time, but are paid when on duty rather than volunteers is standard.

In Australia volunteer Brigades which are mostly unpaid rural services although traditionally they are paid by their employers if called out during working hours.

In Germany, volunteer fire departments are established in every town: even the biggest German city, Berlin, with more than 3.4 million inhabitants, has volunteer fire fighters besides a career fire service.

In fact, only 100 German cities, most of them are towns with more than 100,000 citizens have a career fire service, called "Berufsfeuerwehr" in German, but in every of these cities a volunteer fire service exists, too. 

In cities with a career fire service, volunteer fire brigades support the career fire service at big fires, accidents and disasters.

Many of the so called volunteer departments, usually in towns with 30,000 till 100,000 inhabitants, except in very small towns and villages, are in fact a mixed service of a core of career firemen who are supported by true volunteer firefighters should need arise. 

However, the official title of those departments is nevertheless "volunteer fire service".

In Venezuela, there are, beside the types mentioned before, the University Firefighters.

They are meant to attend any emergency inside the campus and the zones around, but, their most important job is to develop new technologies in this area, thanks to the high level of education of its members.

Aside from the main task of extinguishing fires, the three main goals in firefighting are saving lives, saving property and protecting the environment. 
A main goal of firefighting is saving lives.

A main goal of firefighting is saving property.

A main goal of firefighting is to protect the environment.

Firefighting is an inherently difficult occupation.

As such, the skills required for safe operations are regularly practiced during training evolutions throughout a firefighters career.

In the United States, the preeminent fire training and standards organization is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

The National Fire Protection Association is also known as NFPA.

Often initial firefighting skills are taught during a local, regional, or state approved fire academy.

Depending on the requirements of a department, additional skills and certifications such as technical rescue and Para-medicine may also be taught at this time.

Firefighters work closely with other emergency response agencies, most particularly local and state police departments.

As every fire scene is technically a crime scene until deemed otherwise by a qualified investigator, there is often overlap between the responsibilities of responding firefighters and police officers such as evidence and scene protection, initial observations of first respondents, and chain of evidence issues.

The increasing role of firefighters in providing emergency medical services also brings firefighters into common overlap with law enforcement. 

One example of the increasing role of firefighters is a common state law requiring all gunshot wounds to be reported to law enforcement agencies.

Most career firefighters in North America are represented by the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Fire fighting has several basic skills: prevention, self preservation, rescue, preservation of property and fire control. 

Firefighting is further broken down into skills which include size-up, extinguishing, ventilation, and salvage and overhaul. 

Search and Rescue, which has already been mentioned, is performed early in any fire scenario and many times is in unison with extinguishing and ventilation.

Prevention attempts to ensure that no place simultaneously has sufficient heat, fuel and air to allow ignition and combustion.

Fernando Cardona, the leading researcher in fire prevention is accredited with much of the advancement and improvement to modern fire fighting technique. 

Most fire prevention programs are directed at controlling the energy of activation (heat).

Fire suppression systems have a proven record for controlling and extinguishing unwanted fires.

Many fire officials recommend that every building, including residences, have fire sprinkler systems.

Correctly working sprinklers in a residence greatly reduce the risk of death from a fire.

With the small rooms typical of a residence, one or two sprinklers can cover most rooms.

In addition, a major duty of fire services is the regular inspection of buildings to ensure they are up to the current building fire codes, which are enforced so that a building can sufficiently resist fire spread, potential hazards are located, and to ensure that occupants can be safely evacuated, commensurate with the risks involved.

Other methods of fire prevention are by directing efforts to reduce known hazardous conditions or by preventing dangerous acts before tragedy strikes.

This is normally accomplished in many innovative ways such as conducting presentations, distributing safety brochures, providing news articles, writing public safety announcements or establishing meaningful displays in well-visited areas.

Ensuring that each household has working smoke alarms, is educated in the proper techniques of fire safety, has an evacuation route and rendezvous point is of top priority in public education for most fire prevention teams in almost all fire department localities.

Self-preservation is very critical.

The basic technique firefighters use is to know where they are, and to avoid hazards.

Current standards in the United States recommend that firefighters work in teams, using a "two-in, two-out" rule whenever in an IDLH known as Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health environment.

Tools are generally carried at all times and are important for not only forcible entry but also for self rescue.

A Self Contained Breathing Apparatus also called SCBA delivers air to the firefighter through a full face mask and is worn to protect against smoke inhalation, toxic fumes, and super heated gasses.

A special device called a Personal Alert Safety System also know as PASS is commonly worn independently or as a part of the SCBA to alert others when a firefighter stops moving for a specified period of time or manually operates the device.

The PASS device sounds an alarm that can assist another firefighter in locating the firefighter in distress.

Firefighters often carry personal self rescue ropes.

The ropes firefighters carry are generally 30 feet long and can provide a firefighter that has enough time to deploy the rope a partially controlled exit out an elevated window.

Lack of a personal rescue rope is cited in the deaths of two New York City Firefighters, John Bellew and Curtis Meyran, who died after they jumped from a fourth floor of a burning apartment building in the Bronx.

Of the four firefighters who jumped and survived only one of them had a self rescue rope.

Since the incident the Fire Department of New York City has issued self rescue ropes to their firefighters.

In the United States, 25% of fatalities to firefighters are caused by vehicle accidents while responding to or returning from an incident.

Many firefighters are also injured or killed by vehicles while working at an incident, however, a large percentage of firefighters also succumb to heart disease, in the line of duty.

Firefighting has long been associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes.

In the United States, the most common cause of on-duty fatalities for firefighers is sudden cardiac death.

In addition to personal factors that may predipose an individual to coronary artery disease or other cardiovascular diseases, occupational exposures can significantly increase a firefighter's risk.

For instance, carbon monoxide, present in nearly all fire environments, and hydrogen cyanide, formed during the combustion of paper, cotton, plastics, and other substances containing carbon and nitrogen, interfere with the transport of oxygen in the body.

Hypoxia can then lead to heart injury.

In addition, chronic exposure to particulate matter in smoke is associated with atherosclerosis.

Noise exposures may contribute to hypertension and possibly ischemic heart disease.

Other factors associated with firefighting, such as stress, heat stress, and heavy physical exertion, also increase the risk of cardiovascular events.

Another leading cause of death during firefighting is structural collapse of part of a burning building such as a wall, floor, ceiling, roof, or truss system.

Structural collapse, which often occurs without warning, may crush or trap on-duty firefighters.

To avoid loss of life, all on-duty firefighters should maintain two-way communication with the incident commander and be equipped with a Personal Alert Safety System device (PASS).

A PASS device is a Personal Alert Safety System.

Rescue operations consist of searching for and removing trapped occupants of hazardous conditions.

Animals may also be recovered, if resources and conditions permit. Generally triage and first aid are performed outside, as removal from the hazardous atmosphere is the primary goal in preserving life.

Search patterns include movement against room walls, to prevent rescuers from becoming lost or disoriented, and methodical searches of specific areas by designated teams.

Unlike a fire control team, a rescue team typically moves faster, but has no hose to follow out to safety through the smoky darkness.

A rescue rope may be needed for tethering a team involved in exceptionally dangerous conditions.

Incident commanders also arrange for standby search and rescue teams to assist if firefighters become lost, trapped, or injured.

RIT stands for Rapid Intervention Team.

RIT is known as Rapid Intervention Team.

Such teams are commonly, and often interchangeably, known as Rapid Intervention Teams (RIT), or Firefighter Assist and Search Teams (FAST).

According to "two-in, two-out", the only time it is permissible for a team of firefighters to enter a burning structure without backup in place outside is when they are operating in what is known as "Rescue Mode".

Rescue Mode occurs when firefighters have arrived at the scene, and it is readily apparent that there are occupants trapped inside who need immediate rescue.

At such a time, properly equipped firefighters exercising good judgment tempered by training and experience may enter the structure and proceed directly to victims in need of rescue, RIT will then be put in place when resources permit.

The Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire provides a stark example of disoriented rescuers perishing when their air supply was exhausted during a fruitless primary search and subsequent RIT searches.

Searches for trapped victims are exhaustively detailed, often including searches of cupboards, closets, and under beds.

The search is divided into two stages, the primary and secondary.

The primary search is conducted quickly and thoroughly, typically beginning in the area closest to the fire as it is subjected to the highest risk of exposure.

The secondary search only begins once the fire is under control, and is always performed by a different team from that which did the primary search.

Rescue operations may also involve the extrication of victims of motor vehicle crashes. Here firefighters use spreaders, cutters, and hydraulic rams, collectively called hydraulic rescue tools—known better to the public as Jaws of Life—to remove metal from the patient, followed by actually removing the patient, usually on a backboard with collar, and transferring to a waiting ambulance crew in the cold zone.

More technical forms of rescue include subsets such as rope rescue, swiftwater rescue, confined space rescue, and trench rescue.

These types of rescue are often extremely hazardous and physically demanding.

They also require extensive technical training.

NFPA regulation 1006 and 1670 state that a "rescuer" must have medical training to perform any technical rescue operation. Accordingly, firefighters involved in rescue operations have some kind of medical training as first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics or nurses.

The expedient and accurate handling of fire alarms or calls are significant factors in the successful outcome of any incident.

Fire department communications play a critical role in that successful outcome.

Fire department communications include the methods by which the public can notify the communications center of an emergency, the methods by which the center can notify the proper fire fighting forces, and the methods by which information is exchanged at the scene.

A telecommunicator, often referred to as a dispatcher has a role different but just as important as other emergency personnel.

The telecommunicator must process calls from unknown and unseen individuals, usually calling under stressful conditions.

The emergency dispatcher must be able to obtain complete, reliable information from the caller and prioritize requests for assistance.

It is the dispatcher's responsibility to bring order to chaos.

While some fire departments are large enough to utilize their own telecommunication dispatcher, most rural and small areas rely on a central dispatcher to provide handling of fire, rescue and police services.

Firefighters are trained to use communications equipment to receive alarms, give and receive commands, request assistance, and report on conditions.

Since firefighters from different agencies routinely provide mutual aid to each other, and routinely operate at incidents where other emergency services are present, it is essential to have structures in place to establish a unified chain of command, and share information between agencies.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has established a National Incident Management System.

One component of this system is the Incident Command System.

All radio communication in the United States is under authorization from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); as such, fire departments that operate radio equipment must hold radio licenses from the FCC.

Ten codes were popular in the early days of radio equipment because of poor transmission and reception.

Advances in modern radio technology have reduced the need for ten-codes and many departments have converted to simple English.

Buildings that are made of flammable materials such as wood are different from so called "fire-resistant" buildings such as concrete high-rises.

Generally, a "fire-resistant" building is designed to limit fire to a small area or floor.

Other floors can be safe simply by preventing smoke inhalation and damage.

All buildings suspected of being on fire must be evacuated, regardless of fire rating.

While sometimes fires can be limited to small areas of a structure, wider collateral damage due to smoke, water, and burning embers is common.

Utility shutoff such as gas and electricity is typically an early priority of arriving fire crews.

Furthermore, fire prevention can take on a special meaning for property where hazardous materials are being used or stored.

Some fire fighting tactics may appear to be destructive, but often serve specific needs.

For example, during "ventilation" firefighters are often forced to open holes in the roof or floors of a structure called "vertical ventilation" or open windows or walls called "horizontal ventilation" to remove smoke and heated gases from the interior of the structure.

Ventilation methods are also used to locate victims quicker as visibility increases and to help preserve the life of trapped or unconscious individuals due to the poisonous gases inside of the structure.

Vertical Ventilation is absolutely vital to firefighter safety in the event of a Flashover or Backdraft senario.

Releasing the flammable gasses through the roof often eliminates the possibility of a backdraft and by the removal of heat the possibility of a flashover is reduced significantly.

Flashovers, due to their intense heat and explosive temperaments are almost always fatal to firefighter personnel.

Precautionary methods, such as busting a window out, often reveal backdraft situations before the firefighter enters the structure and is met with the circumstance head-on.

Firefighter safety is the number one priority.

Whenever possible, movable property is moved into the middle of a room and covered with a heavy cloth tarp called a salvage cover.

Other steps may be taken to divert or remove fire flow runoff thus salvaging property by avoiding unnecessary damage, retrieving and protecting valuables found during suppression or overhaul, and boarding windows, roofs and doors against the elements and looters.

The history of organized combating of structural fires dates back at least to ancient Egypt. Today, fire and rescue remains a mix of paid, call, and volunteer responders.

The UK has the retained fire service, whereby fire fighters are on call with pagers from their homes and/or place of work.

In popular literature, firefighters are usually depicted with Dalmatian dogs.

This breed originated in southern Europe to assist with herding livestock and run along with horses, and in the days of horse-drawn fire vehicles, the horses were usually released on arrival at the fire and the Dalmatians would lead the horses through traffic and to a safe place to wait until the fire was out. 
Dalmatians also filled the role of protecting the horses' feet from other dogs as equipment was being transported to the fire scene.

In reality, most fire dogs were mutts pulled from the street and thus cheaper to acquire.

In addition, Dalmatians have a reputation for skittishness and congenital defects, such as deafness due to inbreeding.

Many fire companies around the world, especially in the United States, develop annual firefighter calenders.

In these fiefighter calendars, handsome and muscular firemen appear scantily clad and sometimes cavorting.

These firefighter calendars proceeds function as fund raisers for their fire department and for charities.