By Nozzlehead
Published Tuesday, January 31, 2012
| From the February 2012 Issue of FireRescue
Dear Nozzlehead: We recently had a heated discussion in our firehouse related to the roles of chiefs and company officers on the fireground. Some people feel that lieutenants and captains can be very good fire command officers, and that chiefs should stick to coming out only on the big fires. Others obviously disagreed. What are your thoughts about who should be doing what?
—I Could Be Commandin’ in Connecticut
Dear “I Am Not Letting You Be In Command,”
Company officers generally have a momentary role in fire command—as the first-arriving officer, conducting a size-up while getting their company into position. And that may even mean getting a quick knock on the fire while in command. Whoa. OK, now you white-shirted, badges-on-belts, DAYGLOW-vest-wearin’ chiefs, just calm down and hear me out. I said the above happens initially—and quickly (like first-date quick).
The first-arriving officer does the above when a system has been developed to ensure that there will be chief-level officers driving something other than a fire apparatus (like a command vehicle) that has the tools and equipment (writing, tracking and talking stuff) to allow that commander to command the fire from, or close to, that vehicle, depending on the situation.
I am talking about FIREGROUND SEGREGATION here. Ever watch a football game? Notice how the coaches stay on the sidelines so they can make the decisions? Ever notice how the players are doing the actual physical work on the field? Now apply that to the fireground. Bottom line: Keep chiefs and company officers separate—just like in football.
Before I go any further, let me save “someone” from writing in and saying that they don’t have enough staffing for this. I know departments in the most rural areas and the most urban cities, and they do this. When we focus on the citizens who are experiencing the fire—and not our egos and selfish wants—we can better see that we can make this happen—we just have to WANT it to happen for the sake of the citizens and our troops who are trying to quickly fix the problem.
If your department doesn’t have the staffing, use automatic mutual aid. Automatic means that their tones and your tones go off at the same time. It’s a simultaneous experience and it is lovely. And that response should include plenty of chief-level officers so that the command roles can be filled.
So what are these command roles? Think about your last fire. In the first few minutes, who was assigned to command, accountability, the “Charlie side,” rescue and/or RIT? Who was the incident safety officer?
These are the basic command-level roles that should be part of any reported structure fire first-alarm assignment. Sure, MANY of us (including me) have commanded fires by ourselves, and it has worked out fine. That’s because we got lucky. We know that the above roles must be filled if we want to maximize our chances for success. And the people in these positions absolutely MUST have the experience, hazard-zone management TRAINING and certification necessary.
When we take lieutenants and captains out of the apparatus and place them in command roles, we create some very predictable and problematic outcomes:
- There is now no one in charge of that company and crew. Are you thinking right now that you trust your people? Are you thinking that they don’t need to have a captain or lieutenant with them? Fine, then how do you justify the existence of the company officers’ jobs? Think! They are specifically needed to operate at a supervisory level with their crew.
- You are placing company officers in command-level roles. Are they trained? Certified? Experienced?
I appreciate that some sergeants, lieutenants and captains would like to be in command, but a better idea is for them to focus on being the best company officers they can be—and then study for the next test. When chiefs “flip-flop” roles and company officers “abandon” their crews to fill command-level roles, they can create unnecessary risks and predictably bad outcomes.
Only in the rarest situations are chief-level command officers not available to fill out that first-alarm assignment. Open up your mind and consider how you can get several command level officers to the scene to allow companies to do their jobs. When we get serious about our roles, we often can come up with some real (albeit non-traditional) solutions to the problems of the people who dialed 9-1-1. It’s their fire. What’s best for them?
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Nozzlehead
FireRescue's fearlessly opinionated Nozzlehead has been the fire service's go-to advisor since November 2001. His decades of experience in the fire service make him well qualified to offer up 2,000-psi of free-flowing opinion each month on everything from firehouse hazing to freelancing. If you have a fire service question, concern or comment -- and are looking for an answer with attitude -- send a letter to Nozzlehead c/o FireRescue, 525 B St. Ste. 1800, San Diego, CA 92101, or e-mail him at frm.editor@elsevier.com. Read Full Bio
