The service covers the areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

[2] In 2020, Chris Kirby was appointed its Chief Fire Officer.

[1] Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows: Currently the service operates 21 fire stations across the county, which are staffed on a wholetime basis, wholetime and day-crewed, wholetime and retained, or retained-only.

[2] The stations are grouped into four districts: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.