Royal Arcerion Fire Service

The Royal Arcerion Fire Service (RAFS) provides wildland firefighting services, Hazardous Materials Response services, search and rescue services (including maritime), and emergency medical response services to the Governorates and Counties of Arcerion. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and is one of the primary disaster response agencies in Arcerion. The Royal Arcerion Fire Service is one of the largest federal fire services in Crona, and is the most operational, responding to the largest number of emergency events, search and rescue missions, and wildfires every year in Southern Crona. It is also the oldest organized Fire Service in Crona, and one of the largest international centers for firefighting training, having established relationships with other Occidental nations. It is also a global leader in Ixnay in areas such as disaster response, urban search and rescue (USAR), austere environment search and rescue (AESAR), maritime search and rescue, wildfire suppression and management, and HAZMAT operations.

The Royal Arcerion Fire Service is led by the Commissioner, currently Nathan Hillsborough, appointed by the Minister of the Interior. Within the Arcer government, it is one of the oldest established non-military federal institutions.

Turn of the Century Firefighting (1900-1948)
some important chief

Modernization and Expansion (1967-2000)
Frederickson was the revolutionary, dragged the RAFS out of irrelevancy (died 1999ish)

Organization
The Royal Arcerion Fire Service is sub-divided into two major branches, those being the Operational Branch, and the Support and Services Branch. Overall command of the RAFS is under the Commissioner, who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior and usually serves for 3-5 year terms. Each of the two branches in turn is commanded by a Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioners each oversee their respective branches and receive their direction and guidance from the Commissioner.

Operations Branch
The Operations branch is the 'action arm' of the Fire Service, providing on the ground response for emergency calls and conducting local engagements with civilians and local fire departments to better prepare Arcer citizens for incidences of emergencies or fires.

The Operations Branch is divided into multiple 'Divisions' or groupings of departments based on allotment of assets, manpower, and available resources. Larger fire departments may only have an area of responsibility of one county, however groupings of smaller departments or counties may be administratively commanded by a Chief, who will pool their resources and equipment for simplified command and control during operations. Each Department is usually organized along County lines, although larger cities such as Kurst or Kinnaird may have multiple federal teams to augment existing city fire departments.

The Operations Branch has two major types of teams, those being Fire Teams and Rescue Teams. The smaller, third specialized form of team are generally referred to as "Support" teams, and these are categorized as teams providing a dedicated or specific function outside the purview of firefighting or SAR, such as HAZMAT, complex rescue, or enabling assets such as austere communications support or forward trauma teams.

Fire Teams
Fire Teams are the principle wildfire and forest fire fighting element in Arcerion. Ever since the divestment of city structure fire services in the 1950s, these teams focus mainly on the protection of government, civilian, and economic infrastructure from different kinds of fires. Occasionally, they will respond to structure fires in remote areas where regular fire services at the municipal or city-level are unable to respond (ie. the Northumbraeland Mountains), however this is not common. Fire Teams vary in size, but usually are commanded by a Lieutenant, and are comprised of 10-20 firefighters organized into multiple sections. These sections are organized ad-hoc depending on the environment and requirements as deemed by that department. This includes equipment used or rank structure within, but sections usually have a variety of specialists and are commanded by a Sergeant. County Fire Department Fire Teams operate in shifts, usually working in 12-hour rotations for several days, followed by a rest period of several days off. However, during wildfire season, it is not uncommon for Fire Teams to remain forward deployed for days or weeks at a time battling fires in the Arcer Heartland. There is also volunteer Fire Teams, usually comprised of students, veteran firefighters that have retired, or working professionals, and should the civilian authorities in each governorate provide a call-up, they can be used to augment full-time Fire Teams. Some Fire Teams, in conjunction with the Aerial Services division have 'Smokejumpers,' a capability unique to Arcerion and that has set the standard for this type of work across Ixnay. These are firefighters that parachute into austere or remote locations of wildfires to conduct firefighting with limited access to equipment, support, or water. Often, this involves the use of creating 'burn lanes' to stop fires ahead of time. As of 2026, only four smokejumper teams were operational, all of which were in Northlea Governorate.

Rescue Teams
Rescue Teams are one of the specialist capabilities that each Fire Services Department has. They encompass a wide variety of different types, from Light Urban Search and Rescue (LUSAR), to austere environment search and rescue (AESAR), as well as maritime search and rescue. Rescue specialists are usually senior firefighters, and are required to go back to the Special Fire School of Arcerion for additional training on trauma and advanced medical care, rappelling, high-angle climbing, cold-weather operations, rescue swimming, static-line and freefall parachuting (done through the Arcer Army's facilities), advanced communications training, and field expedient shelter creation. The teams are frequently used to respond to natural disasters such as floods, landslides, storms, shipwrecks/vessels in distress, avalanches, and missing persons. Rescue Teams are seen as one of the most revered civilian professions and institutions in Arcerion. Every year, the Fire Service conducts a limited number of training courses to qualify new Rescue Specialists, to replace Firefighters returning to Fire Teams, retiring, or leaving the Fire Service. Since 1967, sixty-five Rescue Specialists have been killed while on rescue operations or during training, which averages to approximately one Rescue Team specialist a year. This reflects the dangerous and difficult work the Recue Teams are expected to do, and as such they receive additional pay and compensation to reflect the strenuous requirements of the environment. Rescue Teams are usually smaller in size that an ordinary Fire Team, numbering on average 8-10 members, and while technically the Fire Service expects it to be commanded by a Lieutenant, in practice it is more common for a Sergeant or a Fireman 1st Class to be leading a Rescue Team. While there are some volunteer Rescue Teams, these are generally for less demanding tasks such as missing persons rescue or light urban SAR, as the training, fitness, and readiness required to be a part of a maritime or mountain rescue team are too high for part-time firefighters.

Aerial Services Division
The Aerial Services division provides the Royal Arcerion Fire Services with rotary-wing, fixed-wing, unmanned aerial system, and technical aviation support for firefighting and rescue operations. Aerial Services Teams are organized into 'Squadrons,' and are often co-located at Arcer Air Force (AAF) bases. Due to the complex nature of these types of missions, pilots are full-time pilots holding the rank of Lieutenant or Captain, and go through the Arcer Air Force pilot training cycle before returning to the Fire Service for service in the Aerial Services Division in a squadron. The Aerial Services division works closely with Fire Teams and Rescue Teams due to the size of Arcerion and the need to quickly deploy teams across governorates. It commonly will use helicopters to insert and extract Fire Teams fighting brushfires or wildfires in the Arcer Heartland, or use its larger fixed wing aircraft to deploy Smokejumpers or Rescue Specialists to areas where helicopters cannot access effectively due to limited range. As well, the Aerial Services Division uses unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and light fixed-wing aircraft to provide remote command-and-control of Fire Teams during wildfire season, as well as situational awareness for teams on the ground about wind direction, fire path, and other factors that may affect the employment of Fire Teams. The Aerial Services division currently spans all five governorates, and has two dedicated squadrons for Howland Governorate, due to the difficulties of operating in inclement weather. Helicopter and plane squadrons generally have between 12-16 air frames, and depending on maintenance generally 2/3rds of these are operational and serviceable.

Support and Services Branch
The Support and Services Branch provides all of the background support to enable the day-to-day functioning of the RAFS, and the generation of new firefighters for the Operations division. The Training and Research Division's primary mandate is the intake and education of new firefighters every year to sustain the manning levels of the entire Fire Service. The primary source of these recruits comes from Frederickson Collegiate (formerly the Royal Arcerion Firefighting Institute), named for the revolutionary RAFS Commissioner John Francis Frederickson who revolutionized the Fire Service in the 1960s and 1970s. Secondary to this is the additional education portion of the Division. It is aimed to provide firefighters with additional training on complex operations, such as HAZMAT operations or Maritime Search and Rescue. This is organized under the Special Fire School of Arcerion, which also annually hosts courses for international candidates. The Research Bureau represents a multi-faceted approach to the profession of firefighting and the delivery of emergency services. They assign individual research teams, usually comprised of a mix of civilian contractors, professional scientists, research fellows, and experienced firefighters on secondment from the Operations Branch to understand the modern problems facing the Fire Service, conduct research and analysis to determine solutions, and prevent senior staff with predictive modelling and recommended courses of action. A recent example was the introduction into the Aerial Services Division of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to assist with wildfire tracking and prediction. By using UAS, it lessened the burden on lighter fixed-wing platforms, and allowed Fire Teams on the ground to adjust and respond as situations developed on the ground, helping keep Firefighters safe but also maximizing the effectiveness of limited Fire Service manpower as the Arcer Heartland wildfire crisis continues to grow in the wake of global climate change.

The Logistical Services Division provides the backbone of the Fire Service. It delivers communications systems, network infrastructure, maintenance and repair facilities, and facility management support for all of the Operations Branch. This differs from other fire services where the support services may be more dislocated, but assigned to every Department or facility is a number of Logistical Services personnel, both uniformed and civilian, with some contractors, who deliver everything from radio programming and troubleshooting to aircraft maintenance support. Additionally, the Logistical Services Division also conducts the Testing and Evaluation (T&E) of new equipment to procure for the Fire Service. This includes personal protective equipment (PPE) such as rebreathers, entry tools for structural operations, rappelling and climbing equipment, to capital procurement projects such as the Fire Service's helicopter and fixed-wing fleet, unmanned drones, fire trucks, and life cycle management of existing Royal Arcerion Fire Services Buildings.

Ranks

 * Commissioner, Royal Arcer Fire Service
 * Deputy Commissioner
 * Chief (various groupings of Departments, often referred to as a 'Division')
 * Captain (Department)
 * Lieutenant (Fire, Rescue, or Support Team)
 * Sergeant (Assistant to Team Leadership)
 * Fireman, 1st Class
 * Fireman, 2nd Class
 * Fireman, 3rd Class
 * Probationary Fireman

Frederickson Collegiate (Royal Arcerion Firefighting Institute)
Ironically partially destroyed in a fire