Chapter 31
Disaster and Large Incident
Response
Introduction
• Every community vulnerable to a
large incident
• Disaster: incident that overwhelms a
community’s resources
• Large incident: encompasses
incidents not thought of as disasters
– Examples: warehouse fire, hazardous
materials incident at a school
31.2
Types of Disasters and
Large Incidents
• Disasters may be the result of natural events
or human actions
• May cause short-term or long-term problems
• Can lead to other disasters
– Example: weather event that causes a dam break,
flooding, power outages, and public health
problems
• Fire departments must have specific plans
– Connected with local government’s disaster
management plans
31.3
Water-Related Emergencies
• Result from flooding or weather conditions
• May result from critical infrastructure failure,
such as a dam failure
• Flooding is often result of prolonged rain
conditions, tsunamis, hurricanes, and
melting of large amounts of snow and ice
• Flooding can strand people, cause massive
damage, create fires, and prohibit response
• Tsunami: series of enormous waves
caused by underwater event
31.4
Figure 31-1 This photo shows a portion of New Orleans,
Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina hit in September 2005. The
widespread flooding resulted from both the weather
conditions and the failure of dams. (Courtesy of
FEMA/Michael Rieger)
31.5
(A)
(B)
Figure 31-2 Far inland areas of Sumatra experienced minor flooding
during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (A); however, the coastlines
experienced massive devastation (B). (Courtesy of U.S. Geological
Survey/Guy Gelfenbaum)
31.6
Earthquakes and Landslides
• Earthquakes result from shifts in plates of
Earth’s crust along geographic fault lines
– Typically result in injuries, fires, and damage to
buildings and infrastructure
– Require substantial resources
• Landslides: large areas of rock, earth, and
debris that shift unexpectedly down a slope
– Result from earthquakes and prolonged rain
– Can also result from human alterations to the land
31.7
Figure 31-4 Major damage to community infrastructure
as a result of an earthquake. (Courtesy of U.S.
Geological Survey/E. V. Leyendecker)
31.8
Severe Weather Incidents
• Hurricanes: low-pressure weather systems that
form in the tropics
– Large amounts of rain, flooding, landslides, and
major structural damage
• Tornados: violent winds rotating in funnelshaped cloud
– Major structural damage
• Severe storms may also be large-scale
incident
• Large incidents can result from temperature
extremes
31.9
Table 31-1 Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
31.10
Table 31-2 Tornado Classifications
31.11
Fires and Explosions
• Major fire can result in significant response
by emergency services
• Wildfires can rapidly become a disaster
– Traverse many acres of land
– Threaten homes, businesses, and infrastructure
• Explosions may be result of weather
emergency
– May be caused by equipment failures
– May be intentional
• Large-scale fires, wildfires, and explosions
cause structural and environmental damage
31.12
Power Outages
• Humans rely on power supplied to
homes and businesses
• Mass power outage or prolonged
outage leads rapidly to large incident
or disaster
• Power outages can adversely affect
fire stations and fire department
resources
– Make it more difficult to respond to calls
for help
31.13
Hazardous Materials
Emergencies
• Hazardous materials emergencies quickly
become disasters
– Depends on type of product leaked or spilled
• Result in mass evacuations
• Result in infrastructure damage, explosions,
fires, large numbers of sick or injured
• Some chemical scenarios affect citizens 15
to 20 miles away from chemical release
– May kill or injure hundreds of people
31.14
Volcanic Emergencies
• Volcanoes are mountains that open
beneath the Earth’s crust to molten rock
– Pressure from gases in molten rock can build
– Result is upward expulsion through center of
mountain
• Lava flows are destructive
– Take down everything in their path
– Generate fires along periphery of flow
• Eruptions release large quantities of ash into
the air
31.15
Nuclear Power Plant
Emergencies
• Emergency involving a nuclear power plant
can be devastating
– Very rare
• Nuclear power plants closely monitored by
government agencies
– Employ several safety measures
• Greatest risk is human exposure to radiation
– Path of radioactive materials and plume
• Exposure to high levels of radiation causes
serious illnesses and death
31.16
Terrorism
• Acts of terrorism often large-scale
emergencies or disasters
– Number of victims; significant structural
and infrastructural damage
– Complexity of responding agencies
• Terrorists’ main objective is to
terrorize the community
– To create an event that overwhelms
community’s ability to respond effectively
31.17
Responding to Disasters
and Large Incidents
• First responders represent the front lines of
disaster and large-incident response
• Local governments have emergency plans for
dealing with disasters in general
• Hazard-specific annexes to the plan that go
into more detail for specific incident types
• Fire department has a role in every
emergency because they are the first to arrive
31.18
Mutual Aid
• Local emergency resources will be
overwhelmed in large incidents and
disasters
• Mutual aid units required to assist in
response
• Can occur through mutual aid agreements
or inter-jurisdictional plans
• In disasters, mutual aid may be requested
from beyond normal scope of agreements
– From neighboring states or across the country
• Certain regional resources designed for
certain aspects of an incident
31.19
Expanding Response
• Each state has a state Emergency
Management Agency or Emergency Response
Commission
– State focal point for all disaster coordination
• State Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
notifies counties affected
• Neither EOC nor FEMA have mass resources
to handle any disaster
• FEMA reimburses local government for
expenses
– Formal written disaster declaration from the
governor
31.20
Figure 31-12 A state EOC in operation.
31.21
Federal Disaster Resources
• Governor requests disaster declaration and
commits state funds and resources
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) evaluates the request
– Recommends action to the White House
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
becomes involved
• Federal response structured by the National
Response Plan
31.22
Figure 31-13 A USAR team in action. (Courtesy of Fairfax County,
Virginia, Fire and Rescue Department’s Virginia Task Force 1 USAR
Team)
31.23
Other Resources
• Large incidents and disasters can
exhaust many resources
• Often help is needed faster than
governments can mobilize
• Private sector organizations often
play a role
– Example: Red Cross
• Many local communities include
private sector organizations in
emergency plans
31.24
National Incident
Management System
• National Incident Management System
(NIMS) has two concepts: flexibility and
standardization
• Designed to be flexible enough to adapt to
wide variety of disasters and responders
• Provides standardized organizational
structures and processes
– Improves interoperability between agencies and
governments
– Standardization applies to processes and
terminology
31.25
The Firefighter in
Disaster Response
• The firefighter is the critical link in the
disaster response chain
• Training important in disaster response
• Communication a critical factor
• Firefighters should recall knowledge of
department accountability and safety
procedures
• Freelancing is dangerous and may damage
effectiveness of operation
31.26
Figure 31-15 New York City firefighters search through the
rubble for victims of the World Trade Center collapse in
September 2001. (Courtesy of FEMA/Michael Rieger)
31.27
Lessons Learned
• Disasters and large incidents are a great
burden on emergency response system
• Firefighters often act for extended
operational periods
• Disaster brings resources from wide variety
of agencies
• Disasters affect communities for years
• Firefighter is a vital connection between
victim and army of responders
31.28