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.

Royal Arcerion Fire Service

Badge of the Royal Arcerion Fire Service
(Clockwise from top left) Duties and employment of RAFS in Arcerion; Members of the Kurst Fire Department (RAFS) fight a structure fire in 1868; Firefighters with the Hendricks County Fire Department fight a Category 3 wildfire in Northlea Governorate, 2019; Members of the Easthampton Fire Department (RAFS) Rescue Team 2 extract an injured hiker from the Aileach Mountain Range in 2020; A rescue swimmer from the Chester-on-Moore Fire Department (RAFS) Maritime Search and Rescue Team 1 during a SAR demonstration in 2016.
Agency overview
Formed	Template:Start date and years ago
Preceding agency	Various volunteer fire departments
Type	Emergency Services
Jurisdiction	Domestic
Headquarters	Michael Frederickson Emergency Services Building Dalfearn, Arcerion
Motto	"To answer the call"
Employees	97,000 (2015 estimate)
Agency executive	Nathan Hillsborough, Commissioner, Royal Arcerion Fire Service
Parent agency	Ministry of the Interior
Website	urlwww.rafs.arc

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.

Pre-Founding

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.

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.

Organizational Hierarchy of the Royal Arcerion Fire Service.

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

Training

Frederickson Collegiate (Royal Arcerion Firefighting Institute)

Ironically partially destroyed in a fire