In Belgium organized public fire services (Dutch: brandweer, French: service d'incendie, German: Feuerwehr) are available everywhere in the country. The responsibility to provide general firefighting and rescue services resides with 34 public authorities called 'fire zones', or literally translated 'emergency rescue zones' (Dutch: hulpverleningszone, French: zone de secours, German: Hilfeleistungszone). The Brussels Capital Region is protected by the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service (Dutch: DBDMH, Dienst voor Brandbestrijding en Dringende Medische Hulp; French: SIAMU, Service d'Incendie et l'Aide Medicale Urgente), which has its own legal status. Together the 34 fire zones and the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service employ about 17,000 firefighters in total according to 2018 figures, and as of 2023 maintain 320 fire stations spread over the entire Belgian territory. In case of emergency, the response of Belgian fire services can be obtained through the 112 emergency telephone number.

The jurisdiction over the organisation and regulation of the fire services lies with the Directorate-General Civil Security of Belgium's FPS Interior. This does not apply however to the provision of emergency medical services, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Directorate-General Health Care of the FPS Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment.

The history of fire services in Belgium predates the foundation of the country, since local municipalities had been given the statutory authority and duty to prevent and repress fires in the late 18th century. Municipalities were entirely free in how they undertook this responsibility, and whether or not to maintain a fire service. This approach changed during the interwar period, when in the context of a new looming war the Belgian government in 1935 required every municipality either to establish their own fire service or either to contract with another municipality for fire service coverage. In the 1960s, this time in the context of the Cold War period, a new national legal framework was adopted related to the organization of municipal fire services and the Civil Protection units maintained by the national government. This new framework introduced a classification of municipalities with regards to the requirements placed on their fire services, new forms of optional and mandatory cooperation between these services, minimum standards concerning equipment and staffing, and subsidy mechanisms for purchasing equipment.

This framework for fire services organized on a municipal basis remained largely in place until the Ghislenghien gas explosion in 2004. This explosion took the lives of twenty-four people, including five firefighters. In the wake of the disaster, the organization of the fire services was deemed to be no longer suited for modern times and modern risks. To prepare a reform, a commission was created chaired by the then governor of the province of Antwerp Camille Paulus. This commission put forward three key points for the reform:

These principles were incorporated in a new law on civil security, promulgated in 2007. This law provided for the creation of new public bodies called emergency rescue zones (fire zones), which would each be composed of a number of municipalities by analogy to the police zones in Belgium. Notwithstanding some exceptions, they would be governed by a council formed by the mayors of each constituent municipality. Their funding would primarily come from contributions of each municipality and from grants from the Belgian federal government. Each municipality was required to become a part of a fire zone, regardless of whether they had their own fire service or not. The existing municipal fire services had to merge into these new zones. This major reform was only fully implemented by 1 January 2016, when the last new fire zones finally became active. The Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service was largely exempted from this reform, since it already enjoyed its own specific legal status as a public body managed by the Brussels regional government.

As stated before, fire zones (officially 'emergency rescue zones') are public bodies composed of multiple constituent municipalities. Bar some exceptions, they are governed by a council in which the mayor of each municipality has a seat. Their funding comes primarily from their constituent municipalities and from the Belgian federal government. The fire zones each manage a network of fire stations, with assigned firefighters and fire apparatus, from which firefighting and rescue operations are carried out. The fire zones also have duties related to fire safety and fire prevention, and most zones take on a role in the provision of emergency medical services as well. On the operational level, each fire zone is headed by a zone commander. The fire zones differ from each other on several points, such as their size, the risks present in their jurisdiction, and whether they are a volunteer, combination or career-only organisation.

Below is a table containing a list of all of the 34 fire zones as well as the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service. In this table, the column '# M' lists the number of municipalities encompassed by each zone, the column '# S' lists the number of fire stations in each zone, and '# I' lists the total number of (non-EMS) interventions carried out by each zone:

By law, the fire zones and the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service are responsible for: fighting fires and explosions, the rescue and protection of endangered people and property and logistical support, and this throughout five different phases of emergency management: pro-action, prevention, preparation, execution and evaluation. Additionally, the fire zones are also tasked with combating pollution and releases of hazardous materials, and with conducting fire safety inspections and promoting fire prevention among the general public. While also mentioned as one of their duties, the provision of emergency medical services falls under a specific framework and is further discussed below.