Command Operations at Structural Fires

When we look at the successes and failures on the fireground, a proper fire scene size-up and requesting the adequate amount of resources needed, will often lead to those successful fire attacks. However, failure to properly size-up a fire scene, lack of command and control, and a lack of the needed resources, can and will lead to the failures seen on the fire scene from time to time. A good incident commander is the one who can predict his or her next alarm. They know what the smoke is telling them, where the fire is going and what they’ll need resource wise before they run out. Running out of “stuff” at a fire usually results in everyone having a bad day.