REM 244
Fireline Safety
Heather Heward
A state of mind
• Safety is a state of mind
• Safety is always the first priority
• Safety is your responsibility
Overview
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Physical fitness
Proper equipment
10 standard firefighting orders
18 watchout situations
Hazards
Situational awareness
Physical Fitness
• Fire fighting is a demanding job which
required you to be both mentally and
physically fit
• 2 parts of fitness
• Aerobic fitness – related to oxygen intake, regulates
work capacity
• Muscular fitness – includes both strength and
endurance
• Being fit will allow you to be more tolerant of
heat, acclimate faster, work with lower hart rates
and body temperatures
Fitness levels
• Pack test is the only physical requirement
• 3 miles
• 45 pounds
• 45 minutes
• Recommended line crew
1.5 mile run
10:30 (min)
Pull-ups
4-7
Sit-ups (60 sec.)
45
Pushups (60 sec.) 25
Physical fitness
• Fitness tests
• Fatigue
• 2 to 1 work to rest
• Heat stress and dehydration
• Water and electrolytes
• Smoke and carbon
monoxide
• Food and nutrition
• 5,000 to 6,000 calories a day
Heat stress
Heat
cramps
Heat
exhaustion
Dehydration
exhaustion
Heat Stroke
Symptoms
Muscle
cramps
Weakness,
extreme
fatigue; wet,
clammy skin;
headache;
nausea or
collapse
Weight loss,
and excessive
fatigue
Hot, often dry
skin; High
body
temperature;
mental
confusion,
collapse, loss
of
consciousness
Treatment
Drink water,
juice or a
sports drink
Same as heat
Increase fluid
cramps, rest in intake, rest
the shade
until body
weight is
restored
Cool the body,
treat for
shock, seek
medical
attention
Proper equipment
• PPE
• Wear it right
• Fire shelter
• Line gear
• Personal gear
PPE – required
• Flame resistant shirt and pants
• Made from Nomax or Kevlar
• clean, no holes or tears and has no gas or oil stains.
• Boots and socks
• leather 8 inch (no steal toe)
• cotton or wool socks
• Hard hat
• plastic, light weight…
• Gloves
• Leather, no gap between glove and shirt
• Chaps
• Hearing protection
• Eye protection
PPE – recommended
• Wear a 2nd layer - typically cotton
• Goggles
• Hood or Shroud
Fire Shelter
• A fire shelter is a required piece of safety
gear
• Protects you by reflecting radiant heat and
trapping air
• THE SHELTER IS A LAST RESORT ONLY!!!
Preparing for a wildland fire (line gear)
• Nomex Shirt and Pants
• All-leather 8” Boots with
nonskid soles
• Hardhat w/ headlamp
clips and chin strap
• Neck shroud
• Headlamp and batteries
• Fire Shelter
• Radio and harness
• Leather gloves
• Eye protection
• Hearing protection
• Fusees and lighter
• Compass and/or GPS
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Canteens
Extra batteries
First aid kit
Task book
MRE or other food
Fire line handbook
Map/IAP
TP
Warm layer
Rain gear
Flagging
Parachute cord
Knife
Preparing for a wildland fire (personal gear)
• 2 set of nomex
• Underwear, t-shirts,
socks
• Washcloth, towel,
soap, shampoo
• Toothbrush, tooth
paste
• Medications/vitamins
• Money
• Camera
• Bathing suit
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Flashlight
Knife
Hat and gloves
Warm layers
Shower shoes
Tent and sleeping bag
Extra boot laces
Handkerchiefs
Book
Street clothes
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Developed in 1957
• Are absolute
• Common reasons for breaking one of the orders
• Ignorance – lack adequate training
• Over confidence – excessive “can do” attitude
• Lack of empowerment – thinking someone else will
take care you
• Work on making the firefighting orders instinctive
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
FIRE BEHAVIOR
1. Keep informed on fire weather conditions and forecasts
2. Know what your fire is doing at all times
3. Base all actions on current and expected fire behavior
FIRELINE SAFETY
4. Identify escape routes and safety zones, and make them
known
5. Post lookouts when there is possible danger
6. Be alert. Keep calm. Think clearly. Act decisively
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTROL
7. Maintain prompt communication with your forces, your
supervisor and adjoining forces
8. Give clear instructions and be sure they are understood
9. Maintain control of your forces at all times
IF YOU CONSIDER 1-9, THEN
10. Fight fire aggressively, having provided for safety first
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Keep informed on fire weather conditions
and forecasts
• 2 types of weather information
• Tactical – fire weather observations
• Strategic
• Spot weather forecasts
• Long range forecasts
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Know what the fire is doing at all times
• Keep track of:
• the location of the fire perimeter
• the rate and direction of spread
• fuel cover
• fire behavior
• location of fuel breaks
• spotting
• Obtain information from:
• personal observation
• Lookout
• Supervisor
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Base all actions on current and expected fire
behavior
• Constantly evaluate the fire behavior and detect
subtle changes
• 3 possible outcomes fire behavior:
• stays the same
• lessons
• gets worse
Make sure to have a plan for all three!
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Identify escape routes and safety zones and
make them known
• Safety Zone: refuge from an unexpected change
in fire behavior
• Void of fuels
• Not a deployment zone
• Escape route: way you get personnel from where
you are working to the safety zone
• quick safe passage from your work site to the
safety zone
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Post lookouts when there is possible danger
• Tasks:
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Weather
Fire behavior
Smoke
Communications
Know crew location and tactics
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Belt weather kit
Compass/GPS/Map
Binoculars
Radio and plenty of batteries
Extra foul weather gear (sun or rain)
Comfort
• Tools
• Lookouts should be knowledgeable in fire behavior and
understand the significance of changes and identify
hazardous situations
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Be alert. Keep calm. Think clearly. Act
Decisively
• The key is to understand and avoid what may
cause you to be less alert, to get overexcited, or
to become mentally disorganized
• To counteract this you should:
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Maintain self control
Eat and drink correctly
Get adequate rest
Develop contingency plans
Monitor the situation
Take regular breaks
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Maintain communications with your forces,
your supervisor and adjoining forces
• Ensures you can receive or report changes in
instructions; warnings of changing conditions;
changes in status; or progress reports.
• extra batteries and a back up plan for
communication
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Give clear instructions and be sure they are
understood
• Be concise and clear when providing instructions
• Ask to have instructions repeated if you do not
understand them
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Maintain control of your forces at all times
• To help ensure this
• Ensure your instructions are clear, concise and
understood
• Maintain communications
• Know the location of your crew
• Know the status of the fire
• The key is to be prepared to react quickly and
effectively to the unexpected
10 standard wildland firefighting orders
• Fight fire aggressively, having provided for
safety first
• If you can not ensure you can fight the fire on
your terms stop and reevaluate
• To fight fire aggressively you must:
• Lookout
• Communication
• Escape Route
• Safety Zone
• IRPG
Watch out situations
1. Fire not scouted and sized up
2. In country not seen in daylight
3. Safety zones and escape routes not
identified
4. Unfamiliar with weather and local factors
influencing fire behavior
5. Uninformed on strategy, tactics and hazards
6. Instructions and assignments not clear
7. No communication link with crew members
or supervisor
Watch out situations
8. Constructing line without a safe anchor
point
9. Building fireline downhill with fire below
10.Attempting frontal assault on fire
11.Unburned fuel between you and the fire
12.Cannot see the main fire; not in contact
with someone who can
13.On a hillside where rolling material can
ignite fuel below
14.Weather becoming hotter and drier
Watch out situations
15.Wind increases and/or changes direction
16.Getting frequent spot fires across the
fireline
17.Terrain and fuels make
escape to safety zones
difficult
18.Taking a nap near the
fireline
Common denominators in fire fatalities
Denominator
Why?
Small fires or isolated sectors of
larger fires.
Firefighters underestimated the
potential of the fire, failure to
recognize subtle changes in
weather conditions or fire behavior
Light fuels
Firefighters underestimate the
extreme rates of spread and heat
possible in light fuels
Terrain
Fires and heat moves up steep
slopes and canyons with surprising
speed
Shift in wind direction or speed
Not appreciating a predicted wind
event. An unpredicted event
occurs.
Suppression tools such as
helicopters affect wind
Can cause flare ups or spotting
across the fire line
LCES
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L – Lookouts
C – Communications
E – Escape routes
S – Safety zones
• A simple way to help remember the key
elements to survival
LCES
• The Lookout has to:
• Know the location of the escape routes and safety
zones
• Be experienced enough to properly evaluate the
present and potential fire behavior
• Take weather readings
• Understand the tactics and strategy
• Always be able to see the fire
• Handle other fire communication tasks
• Look at the bigger picture
LCES
• Communications
• See, track, record, interpret, anticipate and
report. If the report is not made , all the other
stuff is meaningless!
• Fireline communication:
• Incident name and IC
• Immediate supervisor
• Days plan
• Days tactics
• Safety zone and escape routes
• Communication plan – channels and repeaters
• AAR
LCES
• Escape Routes
• One or more ways to exit danger
• clearly identified
• be clear of obstacles
• short in length
• not go up hill if possible
• Decision (trigger) points - when you move to safety
• Timed and practiced
• Think about alternatives
LCES
• Safety Zones
• A properly designated safety zone should not
require the deployment of a fire shelter.
• large enough to protect firefighters under worse
than predicted fire
behavior
• As work progresses along
the line new safety zones
will have to be identified
along with new escape
routes.
http://www.fire-ecology.org/research/images/small/_safety%20zone%205.jpg
Fireline Hazards
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Smoke and Dust
Snags
Stump holes
Darkness
Footing
Rocks
Branches/overhead hazards
Weather
Stobs/roots
Pumps, tanks, hoses
Bucket/retardant drops
Vehicle hazards
• Driving is the most dangerous component of
fire fighting
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Fatigue
Dust
Unfamiliar routes
Darkness
Bridge weight limits
Excessive traffic
Parking
Vehicle maintenance
Emergency response speed i.e. the speed limit
Local traffic laws
Horse play
Loose equipment on vehicle
Aircraft Hazards
• At the air field
• Enter and exit
• Follow instructions
• Fireline
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Bucket/retardant drops
Sling loads
General recon
Rotor wash
Radio communications
Ground contacts
Other hazards
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Ticks, snakes, and poison oak and ivy
Power lines
Hazmat
People
Animals
Propane and Utilities
Septic
Wildland urban interface hazards
• Hazardous materials – dangerous gases from
burning material
• Propane tanks – can act as bombs
• Traffic – can be a major issue so drive
carefully
• Panicked public –
help public move
form harms way
Human Hazards
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Attitude
Physical conditioning
Training levels
Experience
Fatigue
Local knowledge
Crew dynamics
Chain of command
Span of control
Effective communications
Human Factors
• Common barriers to good listening:
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Perceived opinions
Distractions
Filtering information
Not listening
Having an attitude
Every firefighter is responsible for open, effective
communication
Five basic communication responsibilities
• Briefings
• The passing of general information
• Debriefing
• After an incident or event you ask questions of
those involved to learn what happened
• Warnings
• Information about hazards is passed on
• Acknowledge messages
• You say you understand the information or orders
• Questions
• You ask for clarification
After you receive an order
• You should be able to answer the following:
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What task am I to perform?
What are the known hazards?
Where do I go to be safe?
How do I get to this place?
Situational awareness
• Situational awareness is the gathering of
information by observation or through
communications
• This means constantly reassessing the situation as
things change
• Factors that hinder your situational awareness
• Inexperience
• Stress
• Fatigue
• Attitude
Final thoughts
• Remember:
• It is YOUR responsibility to be safe on the fireline
• There are no stupid questions, if you don’t know
ask
• Work on your situational experience by
reflecting back on the good, the bad the
ugly.
Review
• Why is physical fitness important
• List the main personal equipment items you
need to be a safe firefighter
• What are the categories of the 10 standard fire
orders? What is the most important one?
• What is the purpose of the 18 watchout
situations and what should you do if you are
breaking some?
• What does a lookout do?
• What is makes communication successful?
• List several fireline, vehicle, aircraft, and human
hazards
• Situational awareness
REM 244
The Incident Command System
Heather Heward
ICS - Definition
• Organizational management system based
on:
• Successful business practices
• Decades of lessons learned
• Developed in the 1970’s after a series of
catastrophic wildfire in California.
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Unclear chain of command
Poor communication between agencies
Failure to outline clear objectives and action plans
Lack of designated facilities
Inability to expand and contract to fit situation
ICS – Basic Features
1. Clear text and common terminology
2. Modular organization
3. Management objectives
4. Reliance on an Incident Action Plan (IAP)
5. Manageable span of control
6. Designated locations and facilities
7. Resources management
8. Integrated communications
9. Chain of command and utility of command
10.Unified command
11.Transfer of command
12.Accountability
13.Mobilization
14.Information and intelligence management
Incident Commander and Staff
• Manage entire incident
• Ensure incident safety
• Provide information to stakeholders
• Establish and maintain contact with other
participating agencies
• Support staff
• Public information officer
• Safety officer
• Liaison officer
General staff
General Staff – Operation section
• Major functions
• Implement tactics to achieve objectives
• Assign resources and monitor progress
• Report back
• Organization positions
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Staging area manager
Operations branch director
Division/Group supervisor
Task Force/Strike team leader
Single resources
General Staff – Planning Section
• Major functions
• Gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence
and information
• IAP
• Long-range and contingency planning
• Maintaining documentation
• Check in, tracking, and demob
• Units
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Resources
Situation
Documentation
Demobilization
General Staff – Logistics Section
• Major Functions
• Ordering, obtaining, maintaining, and accounting for
essential personnel, equipment, and supplies
• Communication planning and equipment
• Food services
• Incident facilities
• Support transportation
• Medical services
• Services branch
• Communications
• Medical
• Food
• Support Branch
• Supply
• Facilities
• Ground support
General Staff – Finance section
• Major functions
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Negotiating and monitoring contracts
Timekeeping
Analyzing costs
Injury and property damage compensation
• Units
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Time
Procurement
Compensation/claims
Cost
Common Responsibilities
• Resource Order
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Incident name
Location
Assignment
Base phone number
Reporting date, time, location
Communication (frequencies)
Special support requirements
Travel authorization
Common Responsibilities
• Check in
• Keep track of resources
• Prepare for future paperwork
• Initial incident briefing
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Current situation
Job responsibilities
Location of work area
Communication
Coworkers
Eating and sleeping arrangements
Procedure for resupply
Common Responsibilities
• Common duties during operational period
• Acquire needed materials
• Organize and brief subordinates
• Debrief
• Demobilization
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Brief replacement resources
Performance evaluations
Check-out
Return equipment
Post-incident reports
Payment paperwork
Discussion Questions
• What is the purpose of the Incident
Command System?
• When and where was it developed?
• What are the support staff groups for the IC?
• What are some major roles of each of the
general staff of the Incident Command
Team?
• What should be included in the initial briefing
on arrival at an incident?