The Incident Command System
Among the first duties of the IC are In every operation, firefighter safety is the IC’s #1 priority. The IC supervises the first firefighters to arrive on a scene who perform the initial attack. A fire that grows in size and complexity may cause the IC to delegate some of the fire management responsibilities to the staff under his command.
The Incident Command System (ICS) was developed in the 1970s to provide a standardized framework (including common terminology) that could be applied across multiple agencies for managing any fire of any size. The ICS organization focuses on 5 major functions that are required for managing an incident of any complexity: Command, Operations, Plans, Logistics, and Finance/Administration.
On most incidents a single Incident Commander (IC) manages the command structure. The IC is the leader of a fire control operation. The role of the IC is to size up the fire, determine incident objectives, choose the most appropriate attack strategy, define specific tactics and strategies, and immediate priorities, and establish the fire control organization. Incident tactical operations are managed by the Operations Section Chief. Based on reconnaissance information, the Planning Section Chief supervises the collection, evaluation, processing, and dissemination of incident action plans. The Logistics Section Chief supervises all incident support needs, e.g. transportations, food services, communications, and portable latrines in fire camp. The Finance/Administration Section Chief supervises all financial aspects of an incident, including purchases, time keeping, and cost sharing.
One of the aims of the ICS system is to create a unified command structure for fighting a fire, regardless of the number and type of agencies involved and suppression resources employed. The unified command concept reinforces the understanding that there is one boss and everyone else knows his or her area of responsibility. The IC for a complex fire will strive to create a seamless organization among federal, state, local, and private cooperators (including volunteer fire departments).
ICS was designed to handle any type of emergency incident, regardless of size or complexity, by adding support positions to each major functional activity. Thus, each major function may have a support staff that expands with the complexity of the incident. A more complex organizational structure might be appropriate for a project fire with significant air and ground resources serviced by a fire camp and off-site aerial bases.
On larger fires, the IC might use additional staff, such as an Information Officer, Liaison Officer, and Safety Officer. The Information Officer would be responsible to the IC for communications with the news media, to local publics, to incident personnel, and other agencies or organizations. For multi-jurisdictional fires that involve several agencies, multiple languages, or prison inmate crews, separate Liaison Officers might be required for communicating and overseeing activities that affect each entity. The Safety Officer is responsible for recommending to the IC measures for stressing personnel safety, for identifying potentially dangerous or unsafe situations, or for investigating accidents that might occur. Additional branches and units supports each staff position in ICS (Operations, Plans, Logistics, and Finance/Administration) on a complex incident.
ICS manages the many activities that go on “behind the scenes” in a typical fire camp. For example, the daily Incident Action Plan detailing the operations to be carried out on the day and night shifts may be written as a collaborative effort between the Operations and Planning Section Chiefs. Also, the overhead team leaders may provide input to the Wildland Fire Situation Analysis (WFSA), a formal document describing the complexity of an incident and documenting the rationale used to arrive at a selected suppression alternative, from among the available options. On some complex incidents, a special team may be formed to work on the WFSA.
Encyclopedia ID: p349
