Fill in the box or get the job done

I used to be really in to Incident Command. I'd study it, practice approach reports, and felt pretty good about myself when someone said, "man, you did a good job running that call." Now, after observing some people who are considered "good" incident commanders, I've noticed that we approach things all wrong. Rather than focusing on the results, we focus on "filling the box." "I have assigned ventilation, so it must be 'done'." This isn't always the case. Your incident may look good on paper, but if you look over the steering wheel at the incident, does it really look as good as it does on your fancy little command chart? When you call for ventilation, what do you mean? What about fire attack?

We are really deficient in our expectations as Incident Commanders. We haven't "front loaded" the troops with enough training, and so we aren't surprised when we look up and see the troops attacking a fire in a commercial building with an 1 3/4" hoseline. Nor are we surprised when we ask for ventilation (in another LARGE structure) and a fan (or two) is placed in the door. How about primary and secondary search? I've heard us assign a secondary search before the fire was under control...and that's inappropriate. Oh, and don't even get me started on RIT.

We are so impressed with ourselves that the Plans section was implemented at a large fire, so we pat ourselves on the backs. Meanwhile, we completely ignore tactis applied that could've been disastrous.

RIT Training? It's been asked for...but I think we need more than that. We need to hit the RESET button, decide upon a doctrine, and get everyone up to speed.

Let me start with this. We lament the loss of the Charleston 9. But we need to learn from them. Did you know that they used booster lines in that furniture warehouse? Sure, a few 2 1/2's got pulled, but it wasn't their initial line.

Here's my point...If we are going to call ourselves a fire department, then we need to fight the fire RIGHT. We shouldn't take anything but a 2 1/2' line into a commercial building. Place ourselves in a safe spot, and work it. Then, move in as we get it knocked down. We either need to start embracing this appliance, or we shouldn't even go in these buildings. And if you want to go there, what is the point in having anything more than a giant deck gun on the back of a flatbed truck. We could get by with half the engines and fewer personnel. We could go back to colonial times and keep the fire to the "village" of origin.

Now you know I don't really believe that we should cut staff and all that stuff. But if we don't pull our heads out of our asses, we'll continue to feed the bastards of those that want to see us cut.

Stay safe.