other uses Captain is a rank in various fire services. In most U.S. fire services, a captain ranks above a lieutenant and below a battalion chief. This varies, though, between departments – in the Boston Fire Department, the captain is the officer in overall charge of a fire company. In the Los Angeles County Fire Department, for example, engineer is the next lowest rank below captain. A captain is in charge of a specific fire station. In paid departments, as opposed to volunteer departments, there is a captain for each shift at each station. In these cases, the senior captain is responsible for the station overall. The head of the training division is often a captain, or there may be multiple captains reporting to a battalion chief of training. Additionally, captains may be assigned over