It is administered by a Fire Authority which is an internal part of Hertfordshire County Council.

The service is led by Chief Fire Officer Alex Woodman, who was appointed in Sept 2021 In December 2005, the service dealt with what is thought to be the largest fire since World War II following an explosion at the Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead.

The incident saw a large scale national response involving many UK fire services.

[3] The stations use a number of crewing models:[4] The protection area includes four large settlements with a population between 50,000 and 100,000: Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage Watford, and the city of St Albans.

On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows: