London Fire Brigade Commissioner Jonathan Smith has been awarded the King's Fire Service Medal in the King's 2026 Birthday Honours list.
The Commissioner has been awarded the honour in recognition of his 26 years of service as a firefighter and for his leadership of the busiest and largest metropolitan fire and rescue service in the UK.
Commissioner Smith began his career as a firefighter in 2000 with Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service. He later transferred to Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2008, before joining the Brigade in 2019 as an Assistant Commissioner.
As an Assistant Commissioner he was responsible for overhauling and reforming procedures in Brigade Control in response to the Grenfell Tower Fire and the subsequent Public Inquiry. He also later served as Assistant Commissioner for Fire Stations, directly overseeing the day to day running of the Brigade’s 103 fire stations.
Later, as Deputy Commissioner, he represented London at national strategic forums, including the National Resilience Board, the Counter Terrorism Strategic Board, and the Operational Preparedness, Response and Resilience Committee. He also acted as the National Fire Chiefs Council’s strategic lead for Marauding Terrorist Attacks (MTA) and how the fire service would respond.
Since joining the Brigade, he has led the operational responses to numerous high-profile incidents, including the New Providence Wharf Fire in 2021. He was the Brigade Manager for major national events such as the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation of King Charles III and has acted as the senior commander during several major incidents across London.
London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith said: "I am genuinely humbled to have received the King's Fire Service Medal and privileged to be leading this fantastic organisation. The fire service has given me a career and life experience I could only have dreamt of when I first started over 26 years ago.
“I am grateful to the brilliant people in London Fire Brigade who make it what it is - and without whom this wouldn't have happened. There is more for us to do together so we can continue to meet the challenges of today and the next few years, but we will meet those challenges with confidence, pride and genuine ambition to be the best."