A fire chief has the ultimate responsibility for the performance of the fire department.
A fire chief is typically the highest-ranking officer in a community's fire department. In many ways, a fire chief functions much like the chief executive officer of a company. Fire chiefs normally do not coordinate the department's efforts at the scene of a fire; rather, their job is to make sure that the department is prepared to respond efficiently and appropriately to the needs of the community it serves.
Average Salary
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average base salary for a fire chief ranged from $78,672 to $104,780 in 2008. The average pay for lower-level chiefs -- such as battalion, division and assistant fire chiefs -- ranged from $65,691 to $88,571.
Location
The pay for fire chiefs varies according to the size of the community, the size of the department and the local requirements of the fire chief's job. As an example, the fire chief's base pay in San Jose, California was $107,781 in 2010; in the smaller town of Pelham, New York, the fire chief's position is part-time, with a base pay range of $45,000 to $55,000 per year.
Benefits and Other Compensation
Paid time off, and an attractive benefits package, may comprise a large portion of a fire chief's annual compensation. For instance, while the base pay for San Jose's fire chief was $107,781 in 2010, the position's total annual cash compensation -- including paid time off and bonuses -- was $427,621. In 2011, the fire chief of Schenectady, New York earned $106,080 in base pay, but the total compensation was $164,055.
Promotion and Education
The BLS states that most fire chiefs began their career as firefighters, and moved up the department ladder to engineer, lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, assistant chief and deputy chief before being promoted to fire chief. Many municipalities require fire chiefs, and some lower-level chiefs, to have a bachelor's degree in a relevant field like fire science.
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