10 Standard Fire Orders for Wildland Firefighters

10 Standard Fire Orders required of wildland firefighters are designed to ensure compliance and facilitate memorization. The 18 Watch Out Situations complement the 10 Standard Fire Orders

1. Fight fire aggressively but provide for safety first.
2. Initiate all action based on current and expected fire behavior.
3. Recognize current weather conditions and obtain forecasts.
4. Ensure that instructions are given and understood.
5. Obtain current information on fire status.
6. Remain in communication with crewmembers, your supervisor, and adjoining forces.
7. Determine safety zones and escape routes
8. Establish lookouts in potentially hazardous situations.
9. Retain control at all times
10. Stay alert, keep calm, think clearly, and act decisively.

Each of the 10 Standard Firefighting Orders reinforce the other Orders. For example, orders 2, 3, and 5 relate to fire behavior. Orders 4, 6, and 9 relate to organizational control. Standards 7, 8, and 10 identify key safety requirements, while the first order in some respects provides an overarching mandate to firefighters. Gleason (1991) condensed some of the above concerns into four basic safety elements key to safe procedures for firefighters. His LCES system (Lookouts, Communications, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones) was developed to reinforce iterative refocusing by firefighters on the essential elements of the standard fire orders.

A safety zone is a location where threatened firefighters can find adequate refuge from heat and rolling debris. Firefighters are sometimes encouraged to “get to the black” and, if necessary, deploy their personal protective equipment if trapped by an oncoming fire front, meaning that burned area may provide as good a safety zone as any, especially if cleared of re-burnable surface or crown fuels. As a general guideline, safety zones should be large enough to accommodate all threatened firefighters with a minimum distance of at least four times the maximum approaching flame length (www.nifc.gov/sixminutes). The LCES system places emphasis on firefighters having multiple routes for reaching a safety zone, to provide an extra measure of protection in case a fire blows up and cuts off access by a single route. Good communications are essential to crew cohesion and facilitate clarity between lookout(s) and crew members, such as making sure that safety zone locations are known in advance. Further, subordinates are empowered to pose sensible questions about expectations and orders from higher authorities in the Incident Command System.