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May-June 2010 |
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You Must Always Evaluate the Fire’s Potential One of the most imperative responsibilities of the company officer in a wildland incident is to quickly and constantly evaluate the potential of the fire. This critical function is the foundation upon which crew safety and tactical success is built. Although this appears to be a relatively simple concept, the complex interaction of wildland fire behavior variables, yielding incident specific fire behavior, cannot be underestimated. The company officer, or any crew member for that matter, must remember to start with the basic analysis of fuels, weather and topography. These "ingredients” that influence each other and are directly linked can interact in a multitude of combinations yielding both favorable and unfavorable fire behavior. It is the resultant fire behavior, produced by the ingredients, that determines our actions, our effectiveness, and ultimately determines our safety. The goal of this frequent analysis is to keep an accurate awareness of the fire potential at hand to produce behavior that could negatively impact personnel safety. Simply put, the ingredients on any given day, in any given location, combine in a recipe to produce a product. The product of this unique sight and time specific recipe is the observed fire behavior. Change any one of the ingredient’s parameters, the fire behavior will change. Instinctively all firefighters know this interrelationship of ingredients, but applying these instincts, in a timely manner, is the key to safe operations. The interactions of the recipe ingredients changes in complexity over time and space. The ability to process all of the variables improves with experience and training, but is unfortunately subject to distraction, fatigue, complacency and a multitude of other factors, that erode our effectiveness in this important task. Available to firefighters at a wildland incident are numerous decision tools including, but not limited to, fire behavior processors, nomograms, charts and computer software. However, none of these are intended to override the irreplaceable tool of the Firefighter’s brain. Instead these tools serve to help ratify, or clarify, what intuitively firefighters should be thinking while operating at a fire of any size and complexity. There is no doubt that fire behavior is a dynamic force that moves, breaths, accelerates, slows, propagates, and can in some cases defies logical thought, and in some cases, even the most seasoned veteran personnel underestimate potential. However, this fact should just strengthen the resolve of all personnel to consistently, frequently, and accurately evaluate the fire’s potential. To assist with this decision process, I would propose a simple question to be asked by all personnel engaged in fire suppression at any location on the incident: “Where do I want to be, and where do I not want to be when this fire makes its move?” This simple question is the most direct application of the complex analysis of fire behavior, related to the most important strategic goal at any incident — personnel safety. Although recipes produced by the environment can in some cases present significant challenge to fire suppression operations, answering the question stated above, can hopefully position personnel in a safe location when fire behavior intensifies. If we are disciplined in our asking of that question and evaluating the potential of the recipe presented today, inherently personnel safety is improved. This intellectual assessment does not have to develop into a prolonged analysis; in fact I would encourage personnel to refrain from “paralysis by analysis” during suppression, because we have to make decisions and act. Instead objectively look at the fire behavior inputs; temperature, RH, slope, aspect, fuels, etc., apply that to the topography, and answer the question of are you in a safe location or not. This is a proactive thought process that if completed accurately, should assist personnel with the critical decision of locating a safe area to operate. Furthermore, the answer to the question of where to be or not to be could quite possibly place personnel in the desirable position of pleasantly surprised, as opposed to tragically surprised during fire behavior changes. Call it proactive, risk benefit analysis, worst case scenario planning, or all of the above; the bottom line is by evaluating the potential presented by the fire environment on every shift, day and night, one is better situated to answer the question of where they want to be and where they don’t want to be. Therefore, the next time you find yourself at a wildland fire incident, get your hands on an accurate topo map, locate a solid weather forecast, analyze the state of the fuels, and then; evaluate the fire’s potential today. © Copyright Firenuggets.com 2010 • Click here for Terms and Conditions of Use
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