Graham Ellis joined LFB in 1983 and started his firefighting career at Westminster

Fire Station, from where he attended incidents in and around London’s West End

and beyond. Whilst serving at Westminster, Graham attended several notable

incidents including the Clapham Junction rail disaster in 1988, numerous IRA

terrorist bombings, and large fires.

Graham served in London’s East End as a Station Officer throughout the 1990’s,

as an operational commander on one of the busiest firefighting grounds in the UK.

After completing a range of specialist courses at the UK Fire Service College, in

1997 Graham took up the post of Station Commander at Soho Fire Station, in the

heart of the West End theatre district

Whilst serving at Soho Graham attended and undertook command roles at a broad

range of major incidents, which included the Soho pub bombing and Paddington

rail crash, as well as major fires at Buckingham Palace and other high profile

premises across the West End.

As Divisional Officer from 2004, Graham headed up LFB’s recruit training,

before moving into Special Operations Group to play a key role in preparations

for dealing with terrorist incidents, and training to become an Inter Agency Liaison

officer. Graham undertook command roles at attack sites during the 7/7 and 21/7 terrorist bombings in 2005, and formed part of the team which reviewed the multi agency response to the events. Graham returned to Special Operations Group in 2008, where he headed London’s Inter Agency Liaison Officer (ILO) cadre.

Along with a small team, Graham worked with partners from Police, Health, Military and UK Government to shape London and the UK’s response models for addressing an asymmetric terrorist threat. Graham was a frequent lecturer on the UK Fire Service College National ILO course.

Graham played a key role representing LFB and the UK Fire and Rescue Service in the National Olympic Co-ordination Centre (NOCC) during the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games. This command centre was pivotal in ensuring the delivery of a safe, secure and successful Olympics.

Senior leadership roles followed in LFB’s Strategy & Performance Department, and Incident Command / Operational Assurance Team. As Assistant Commissioner, Graham now heads up LFB’s Special Operations Group and London Resilience Team, responsible for the preparations, training, response and recovery to a range of natural and terrorist related threats, and for overseeing fire service operations across the Greater London area.

Graham undertook the Gold Commander role for LFB during several no-notice terror attacks on London in 2017, co-ordinating the rapid, offensive and professional response of LFB’s specialist teams, working seamlessly with multi agency partners to save life and restore normality in London.

Graham continues to work closely with UK, European and international partners to share lessons learned and continually improve the emergency services’ response to ongoing high threat challenges.