From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfire brigadeˈfire briˌgade ●●○ noun [countable] 1 British EnglishSSO the fire service SYN fire department American English2 American EnglishGROUP OF PEOPLE a group of people who work together to stop fires burning, but are not paid to do this
Examples from the Corpus
fire brigade• A short-circuit set off an explosion in the high-pressure chamber, a fire brigade official said.• A further outcry from consumer groups and fire brigade unions is expected over the dangers from fire.• Here, some bright spark thought Windsor Castle was on fire and called the fire brigade!• The police arrived, took one look and called the fire brigade.• One of the residents of the flats that overlook the factory saw the flames and phoned the fire brigade.• The fire brigade which was at the first blaze about 100 yards away extinguished the second fire in a short time. 