Rural Fire Command

Some command practice on a well involved former... motel? Auto shop? We really aren’t sure what it was other than it was definitely used as a residence. Not a firefighter or first responder? Use this as an example of the effectiveness of basic incident management principles in your work environment like unity of command and effective division of labor, as well as understanding “commanders intent” when immediate decisions are required. Disclaimer- there is some missing audio as it was sourced from a public scanner feed, and this is 90 minutes condensed into 4. Fire through the roof and 50% involvement on arrival with the constant sound of lp tanks popping off. It was a great opportunity to use the new command chart I made up using @nmartin33 for the inspiration. I modified one of his charts to better reflect the sporadic nature of our #rural staffing that relies heavily on personal vehicle response. I would have much rather been been up with the action, but with a kid testing positive for #covid_19, Ive been on quarantine duty 😇 In the middle of the chart the different #fire departments are listed with their department number. That’s pretty much where the regularity ends. A department like us (5) shows up with 6 people in 3 apparatus, and another 5-6 in personal vehicles. This command chart is designed to organize the chaos into a company format using division supervisors to maintain accountability. As units arrive on scene they report to command and are assembled into a company based on the department number of the boss. For example, 3-4 #firefighter show up and the officer is from (5). I assign that company a task and call them either engine or truck 5. Further units from the same department are added as 25,35 etc. It’s not perfect, and we tried it last night for the first time, but it made it a heck of a lot easier for the officers. When the 100lb lp tank blew, the accountability check afterwards was as simple as checking in with the #fireattack division supervisor who quickly identified his four companies were all good. This was a good fire that had a few challenges to include explosions, power lines on the front of the structure that precluded any hoseline operations past the front side until the fire was knocked back, and the pump failure of the first due engine. DISTANCE command from the incident, and get a solid mid-level view using division supervisors. Rural #firefighting has its challenges but is very rewarding when you set yourself up for #sucess. The extra response time also doesn’t hurt when it comes to getting some good #fuego 😎 https://www.facebook.com/iarescue https://www.instagram.com/iowaamericanrescue https://iarescue.com