Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service was formed in 1975 when control of fire services was passed from local authorities to the Central Region Council.

When the Central Regional Council was abolished in 1996 the three new unitary authorities each took part in the running of the service.

Originally called Central Region Fire Brigade in 1975, changed in 1996 to Central Scotland Fire Brigade, and in 2004 it changed to Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service to reflect the change in the operations it carried out.

This replaced the previous system of eight regional fire and rescue services across Scotland which existed since 1975.

The majority of these are water tender ladder and the remainder were mostly specialist units: The following eight regional fire and rescue services (originally known as fire brigades) were merged on 1 April 2013, creating the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service: The same boundaries were also used for the eight territorial police forces, which were amalgamated into Police Scotland on 1 April 2013.