Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Perhaps you have read about the fire that tragically killed a Virginia woman earlier this year. A report has now come out on that fire-but sadly I'll bet a lot of it sounds like some of the fires MANY of us have been on. You may very well recognize some of the issues at this fire from fires you have been on. Keep reading.
The incident commander said that nothing could have prepared him for what he encountered, according to notes from his interview with a county investigating task force. The interview is part of a numerous documents pulled together by the Spotsylvania County task force of Volunteer and Career Firefighters probing the incident.
What the Incident Commander encountered, at least from reading what we have, is that, (among other issues) is that fire companies and firefighters freelanced and ignored the commanders orders. WTF?! Sad but true.
It's tough enough for an Incident Commander to operate and lead their companies at a fire with reported victims, but then to have some companies NOT follow orders? Not follow SOP's?
Some of the issues the Incident Commander encountered included:
=Some companies never reported to Command for duties-just did essentially what they wanted to.
=Firefighters "freelanced" tasks on the fire ground without orders.
=A Chief changed the water supply after it was already connected, without orders from Command.
=A Chief Officer entered the building without his breathing apparatus.
=Firefighter tracking and accountability was seriously lacking.
=Some Firefighters communicated on the wrong radio channel, and others didn't have radios on.
=Some Firefighters entered the structure without tools such as flashlights.
=Initial arriving Firefighters never used a thermal imaging camera.
=Command and others were never sure how many people were trapped.
=The fire was extinguished within five minutes, but no one gave a progress report to Command by radio when the fire was out.
=Firefighters on the 1st due arriving company never completed a walk around of the dwelling, which is a required step at that FD-and should be at every FD. Because they failed to do that, no one saw the trapped victims two bedroom windows on that side of the house.
=Command ordered Firefighters top raise ground ladders to second-floor windows, but the task was never completed or followed up on.
=Command said he did not tell Firefighters what tools to take with them to operate because he "assumed crews would take what was necessary."
=Command expected crews to relay needs to him, but because some Firefighters were on the wrong channel, important details were not being communicated or heard. =The IC said there were too many informal operations being undertaken without orders.
Now clearly, the house did not have working smoke detectors, and maybe that would have solved the problem, but we have to expect and react to stuff like that. Fire departments RESPOND to fix BAD STUFF when all else has failed. However, it's 2010 and I am not sure a Fire Commander should have worry about commanding with companies doing as described above. As history has shown, EVERY ONE of the above issues (and more in the report below) has contributed to the deaths of Firefighters in the past. You know, and I know that this problem is hardly just a Spotsylvania problem.
WHEN COMMAND DOES NOT COMMAND, OR WHEN OFFICERS AND THEIR COMPANIES FAIL TO TRAIN AND FOLLOW SOP'S WITH COMMANDS ORDERS, WE AND THE PUBLIC GREATLY INCREASE OUR OPPORTUNITY TO DIE. Not EVERYONE Goes Home.
Brotherhood? I got your Brother & Sisterhood right here. DO as ordered and trained if you want Brotherhood. Sure-"everyone" wants to "get in there" and do whatever they want. But that was then-this is now. Besides, it's not about what you or we want-it's all about what COMMAND wants and what the citizens need based upon conditions. Including greatly risking our lives when conditions warrant. Part of the job.
See, you're not home where Mom and Dad let you do whatever you want. You're at the FIRE DEPARTMENT and your training, SOP's, resources, conditions, size up and operations lead by CHIEFS and carried out at the task level by OFFICERS will direct you on what to do. And unless something is very wrong-we must do it as ordered. No voting. No whining. Just do it. This isn't always a democracy. It's not free play time. Free play time has killed Firefighters and Civilians. Free play time continues to be a problem in some areas. That's not good. It will absolutely lead to more Firefighter and civilian deaths.
A BLUE SOLUTION:
To most of you, the solution should be obvious. SOP's, Training, Response with Pre-Needed Resources, On-Scene Disciplined Operations, Training, Enforcement of Disciplined Operations, Training and more Training. And while HANDS ON training is critical, we (our area FD's) recently took a course that I specifically want to share with you.
Without question, I had to do a little re-learning and open my mind up a bit when taking this course, but I will be honest with you-if this training is conducted by and for your FD, and all those who respond to your fires take this training with you-and follow it, virtually NONE of the above issues will occur. I am talking about what is becoming known as BLUE CARD FIRE COMMAND TRAINING program.
Remember when you took your NIMS 300, 400 classes? Sure, it was sorta good but at least to me, it left a whole lot out related to the day to day fires (dwellings, stores, apartments etc) that we all respond to.
BLUE CARD fills that gap.
The "Blue Card" fire command program is a very cool training and certification program that teaches Incident Commanders and Fire Officers how to standardize local incident operations across your organization as well as responding mutual aid/automatic aid FD's. It allows for YOUR LOCAL SOP's and operations-and actually supports them. The program uses a combination of online (read: do it at home or at the firehouse!) and in-class simulation training which results in an Incident Command solution that makes sense-and it all about the runs you make DAILY. Dwellings, Apartments (MFD's), Commercial, Industrial etc.
The training is based on very current applications of Chief Alan Brunacini’s Fire Command book which has been around for over 30 years. Blue Card is designed to teach us and standard on "commanding" and operating at NIMS Type 4 and 5 incidents - which is what you respond to 99.99% of the time. Until Blue Card, there has not really been a clear training curriculum for Incident Commanders, Command and Company Officers at those incidents YOU respond to on a daily basis.
To be clear, I have nothing to do with this program, I am not an instructor and nor do I have any business interests in it. But I am going through it and I wanted to share it with you as it is definitely worth checking out. From time to time, we will pass on a business or product that we think matters-and this is one of them.
Look, IF ANY OF THE ABOVE FIRE SCENE DESCRIPTIONS sound like YOUR FD or fire scenes you respond to, you need to check this out.
Click below for a video overview of Blue Card Command Training.
At least check it out and watch the sample videos. I'm pretty sure it will help if ANY of the above (or below) issues sound vaguely familiar with fires you have responded to.
SPOTSYLVANIA FIRE TASK FORCE PROPOSALS
Some of the major recommendations from the Spotsylvania task force report include:
=All members need to follow duty orders and avoid freelancing.
=All members need to make sure they have the proper gear with them, including radios, flashlights and search tools.
=Thermal imagining cameras must be used in all fires.
=All members should follow one set of standard operating procedures.
=The volunteer fire companies need to establish standard qualifications for leadership roles.
=The volunteer fire companies need to create an organized training program.
=The volunteer fire companies need to develop enhanced training programs on how to use thermal imaging cameras, search-and-rescue techniques and ventilation techniques.
