Fire Department Company Officer (3rd Edition)
Chapter 2-Fire Department Structure
Test Review
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Organizational structures provide a management framework which defines how to plan and operate to meet
mission statements.
Fire departments are either public (i.e.-city, county) which are more common, or private (i.e.-fire protection
agencies).
Private fire protection are agencies that server a limited area or those which serve single businesses, such as
fire brigades.
The most common ways to classify a fire department are by the type of jurisdiction and whether personnel are
paid or staffed around the clock.
Jurisdiction refers to the area served by a fire protection agency and to the authority that gives the agency the
legal right to provide services and take action.
Common fire protection jurisdictions include: municipal, public safety, county/parish/borough, fire district,
and fire protection district.
The most common jurisdiction is municipal fire departments, which are a functional division of the lowest
level of government.
Most full-time fire departments have an organizational structure similar to the local government.
The size of a public fire department depends primarily on population, area served, and level of service
provided.
Fire stations are sometimes called houses or halls.
Larger departments have functional subdivisions such as districts, divisions, battalions, companies, and special
squads or teams.
Funding for full-time departments usually comes from taxes, however, some charge subscription fees.
Another type of municipal fire protection agency is the public safety department, sometimes called fire
bureaus, and are usually in charge of both fire and police protection.
County, parish, and borough agencies are usually part of a mutual aid agreement with local agencies.
Fire districts serve the same purpose as county fire departments but are not related to a single county, parish, or
borough.
Funding for fire districts may come from district taxes or subscription fees.
Fire districts do not have support services provided by a municipal services center for apparatus/station
maintenance.
In some states, fire protection districts are less formal than a fire district in that they do not exist as a separate
government entity, however, in other states, they are the same.
Homeowners in unincorporated area typically summons an established fire department to act as their "fire
protection district".
Private fire departments consist of industrial complex, military, and private business departments, and are the
smallest category of all fire protection services.
Businesses such as oil refineries and airports maintain fire brigades or other response teams to provide fire
protection and are termed industrial fire departments.
Reasons for industrial fire departments include: immediate response, special hazards, remoteness, reduced
insurance, reduction of liability, and compliance (i.e.-FAA regulations at airports).
Military fire departments may provide assistance off-base via mutual aid agreements.
Some entities contract with commercial fire protection services to provide fire protection instead of funding a
local fire department.
Airport fire departments must provide both crash/fire/rescue services and structural protection for buildings.
Private non-profit fire departments operate primarily on a subscription basis (non-subscribers charged a fee if
services are provided).
Firefighters that receive pay are commonly called "career" firefighters.
The term professional applies to both paid and volunteer firefighters.
Career fire departments are staffed around the clock and may have part-time employees to supplement peak
periods.
Most volunteer departments are independent from government agencies.
Combination departments have both paid and volunteer employees.
Paid-on-call personnel are paid per call, usually an hourly wage, but sometimes a set fee.
Most or all paid-on-call department funding comes from local government agencies or associations.
Public safety officers are similar to volunteer firefighters in combination departments since they are paid as
police officers and cross-trained as firefighters.
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Fire protection agencies are responsible for providing equipment/service for a reasonable amount, conducting
fire safety/prevention programs, investigation, providing adequate suppression systems, providing EMS,
advising local government of fire/public safety matters, and coordinating mutual aid response.
Fiscal limitations is of primary consideration for most departments.
Common techniques used to further use of a budget include funding only the minimum number and types of
resources needed to provide services and to use agreements with other agencies (mutual/automatic/outside aid)
for larger incidents.
Automatic aid is a formal, written agreement between fire departments that share a common boundary and is
utilized when certain predetermined conditions occur (i.e.-fire along boundary of jurisdiction or in a high-risk
facility).
Mutual aid is a reciprocal agreement between two or more fire protection agencies and are usually utilized on
an on-request basis.
Requests for mutual aid may be denied if the resources are needed within the requested parties boundaries for
other calls.
Common reasons for mutual aid agreements include: sharing of specialized resources, incidents exceeding
resources, NFPA ISO ratings, quicker responses, to define boundaries between adjacent jurisdictions, and to
define methods for fire response within a city's limits and in areas lying between jurisdictions.
Mutual aid plans should define roles of each agency, establish operating guidelines, define communications,
include terminology and compatibility of equipment, provide maps and information about response area,
address insurance/legal concerns, and establish nonemergency items for training/communications.
City policies/ordinances may have to be changed to allow for mutual aid agreements.
Training between mutual aid agencies should address equipment and procedure differences.
Outside aid is the same as mutual aid, however, the requested party is paid for their services (normally an
annual fee).
It is the Fire Chief's responsibility to articulate the mission of the department, identify goals and objectives,
and establish an organizational climate within it, while the company officer's role is to see that his company
does their part to achieve goals and objectives.
Written operating guidelines are requires to ensure that members of the department work together effectively
and should include behavioral and performance expectations.
The most common principles of fire departments include unity of command, span of control, division of labor,
and discipline.
Organizational theory indicates that members should report to ONLY one supervisor to avoid conflicting
orders.
Violation of Unity of Command (reporting to one supervisor) results in confusion and frustration of
subordinates.
Unity of Command provides adequate direction and accountability of workers.
Each member may only report to one supervisor, but they are still responsible to the Fire Chief indirectly
through the chain of command.
Chain of command is the pathway of responsibility from the top of the department to the bottom, and vice
versa.
Violation of Unity of Command is acceptable if members will be put in danger by following an order from
another supervisor.
A breach in Unity of Command, also called an "end run", is when a subordinate sidesteps the immediate
supervisor and takes the problem directly to an officer higher in the chain of command, and is usually
destructive to organizational unity and cohesiveness.
To avoid sidestepping, officers should listen to subordinates' problems, consider them, and take action, or if
problem cannot be solved, take it higher in the chain of command.
Functional supervision is when subordinates are given permission to report to another supervisor other than
their own (i.e.-when doing code inspections, report to code enforcement officer).
Variables affecting span of control include: ability/experience of supervisor and subordinates, nature of the
task, proximity of subordinates, and consequences of a mistake.
When tasks are simple and repetitive, supervisors can effectively manage the maximum number of
subordinates.
When tasks are complex, subordinates have little training on the task, and consequences are high, supervisors
should manage only the absolute minimum number of subordinates.
Delegation of authority is necessary to complete all tasks.
When delegating authority, objectives should be made clear and the overall goal and objective identified.
Division of labor is the breaking down of large tasks into smaller tasks that are assigned to specific individuals.
Division of labor prevents duplication of effort and results in specific, clear-cut assignments.
In the division of labor concept, tasks are broken down into groupings which consist of the type of task,
geographical area, and time (common groupings: EMS, community services, departmental services).
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All positions in an organization must be clearly defined for division of labor to work.
Specialization is an aspect of division of labor in which a company with special skills is assigned a task
requiring those skills (i.e.-HazMat, Rescue).
Discipline means setting limits and boundaries for expected performance and then enforcing them.
Discipline can also be defined as a teaching method used to enforce the organizational limits.
Scalar is defined as "having an uninterrupted series of steps" or a "chain of authority".
A scalar organization is a paramilitary, pyramid-type organization with authority centralized at the top.
Orders in a scalar organization start at the top, go through intermediate levels, down to the base of the structure
and information is transmitted in a reverse direction.
A true scalar structure is well-suited for emergency operations because span of control is maintained,
information for decision-making is centralized, and functional chain of command is maintained.
Line and Staff refers to the traditional organizational concept which separates personnel into two groups: Line
Personnel (those who deliver emergency services and staff), and those who support line personnel.
In a traditional organization, typical staff functions include: training, logistics, and personnel administration.
With functional supervision, the staff officer must coordinate with the line supervisor before company-level
personnel are assigned (i.e.-code inspections by companies).
Authority refers to the legal ability of an individual to make and implement decisions for which the individual
is held accountable.
In centralized authority, decisions are made at the top, while decentralized authority decisions are made at
lower levels.
Centralized authority works well at the company level, however, with a larger organization, span of control is
usually exceeded.
Accountability for decisions made at any level in a structure are almost always centralized.
As a general rule, no one, including Fire Chief, can avoid accounting to a higher authority in regards to
decisions made.
Decentralized authority is basically delegation of authority and means that authority is granted at different
levels to accomplish specific tasks.
Ideally, decision-making authority should be delegated at the lowest organizational level possible.
With decentralized authority, the possibility of duplication of effort exists.