The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting, rescues and hazardous materials and inland waterways in the country regions of South Australia.

It would be prohibitively expensive for each Australian town or village to have a paid fire service (department).

Several Adelaide suburbs that retain extensive scrubland have CFS stations whose area of operation overlaps that of the SAMFS with joint training exercises sometimes organised for major community facilities such as the Flinders Medical Centre.

Fire fighters wear yellow protective clothing, with a two-piece set being the standard (Bunker pants, and turn out coat).

In colonial times, the government attempted to control the outbreak of wildfires by legislating against the careless use of fire.

After the war, equipment from these brigades was lent to district councils for rural firefighting work.

The Country Fires Act, 1989 pulled the control of the CFS away from district councils to the State Government, allowing for the development of a standardised service able to respond quickly to emergencies across South Australia.

Vince Monterola, CEO of the Country Fire Service at the time, was appointed as the inaugural chairman.

A strike team typically consists of 5 fire appliances and a leading command car.

Along a similar line task forces are groups of appliances that are mobilised to combat a particular incident out of their usual area of operation.

These strike teams are put together when there are high fire danger days coming up and the CFS does not want to stretch a group's resources.

The CFS chain of command is set out in the following way, with the top being the most senior in rank: All positions from Group Officer down (inclusive) are voluntary and are elected democratically by fire-fighters (with the exception of cadets).

The points or tenets were said to represent the knightly virtues of tact, loyalty, dexterity, observation, sympathy, explicitness, gallantry and perseverance.

Since these virtues represent the qualities required by a firefighter, the star was chosen for the insignia of the CFS.

These are (from top point, going clock-wise): tact, loyalty, dexterity, observation, sympathy, gallantry, explicitness, and perseverance.

The new corporate logo was introduced in 1999, in an effort to present the modern image of the CFS as a professional organisation.

The logo should be used on fire appliances, fleet vehicles, helmets and official CFS publications.

The logo was chosen as a result of a competition and is based on a design by a CFS volunteer, Gary MacRae.

The CFS has a few ways of dispatching brigades to emergencies, however in almost all, pagers are used to alert volunteers to the incident.

As of July 2007, all dispatch and day-to-day state operations were relocated to the SAMFS communications centre.

When there are entrapments, the CFS will provide fire cover, and when required will respond with rescue appliances with the appropriate tools for stabilising and extricating trapped casualties.

Urban fringe brigades also do "Enhanced Mutual Aid" with the SA Metropolitan Fire Service.

These rural appliances are extremely important for keeping South Australia protected from fires.

The reason that there are many different types of rural trucks, is because the terrain changes a lot in South Australia.

24s are the most common, because they are not too heavy and big, but carry a reasonable amount of water, which can last a good time before having to fill up.

They have bigger pumps and more specialised equipment (e.g. extra SCBA sets), and are more suitable for responding to urban incidents like house fires, car accidents etc.

It has a world class training centre at Brukunga, in the Adelaide Hills, where the specialised courses are held.

However, some courses are trained by other services or companies, like first aid, given by St John Ambulance SA.