Coffee Break Training: Responsibilities of an Incident Commander.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Coffee Break Training: Responsibilities of an Incident Commander.

Learning Objective: The student shall be able to describe the responsibilities of an Incident Commander.

The Incident Commander is the only position in the Incident Command System that is always filled regardless of the size or complexity of an incident.
The IC has the responsibility for the overall management of the incident.
Whatever functions or responsibilities that are not delegated to others remain the responsibility of the IC.

The engine Company Officer who responds to a call of food on the stove will fill the IC’s position regardless of the local agencies’ routine rank title for that officer.

The initial IC’s first responsibility is to assess the situation (size up) to determine the problems, issues or concerns that the crew is confronting.

For food on the stove, the initial IC most likely will use an intuitive assessment process — prioritize the problems and develop the objectives, strategies and tactics using a mental process that has come from responding to many incidents of similar types.

The IC will then give verbal directions to the engine crew on the work assignments needed to bring this simple incident under control.

In this example, the initial IC maintained the responsibility for the safety of the crew(s) and the public,

assessed the need for additional resources, directed the resources, and even developed a plan for

contingencies.

It is safe to say that the vast majority of incidents stay small and are handled by just the IC’s position

being filled; however, even the simple or routine incident may grow in size and complexity thus taxing

the IC’s ability to maintain direct control for all the functions on the incident.

An experienced IC will recognize early the need to delegate responsibility for many of the functions of command and the overall management of the incident.

As an IC, you must be ready to assume and maintain command of an incident that is expanding in

complexity until the incident is either brought under control or relieved by a more experienced IC.

Source USFA / The Incident Commander
No. CC-2013-1 February 25, 2013: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/coffee-break/cc/cc_2013_1.pdf

CFN - California Fire News 2012

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Monday, February 25, 2013