The Fire Scene: Standbys, Covers And Relocations

Oct. 1, 2014

At a recent multiple-alarm fire in Orange County, NY, a large number of companies and departments were called to the fire scene. The story here is not about the fire, but rather about the task of covering the numerous now-empty firehouses around the county. And this topic is not a volunteer or career fire service issue either.

This situation can develop in any area where a serious incident requires the use of a large number of the areas fire companies or departments. Let’s consider situations that can arise and solutions that may help.

Standby scenario

If we take a look at a typical county that contains both career and volunteer fire departments that operate in urban, suburban and rural settings, we can set up an interesting scenario to illustrate a difficult “standby” situation.

Ember County is a 500-square-mile area that contains 40 separate fire departments. The response areas of these departments vary, but they are spread out fairly evenly throughout the county. There are, however, features that can create difficulty for some departments to both respond and relocate to other firehouses when needed. A large river flows through the center of the county and can only be crossed via two bridges and there is a valley that is difficult for fire departments to get to because only two roads serve the area.

A fire is reported in a large commercial building in the center of the county and quickly develops into a multiple-alarm situation. The small department that initially operated is quickly overwhelmed and numerous mutual aid companies are dispatched to the scene. The fire continues to grow and more companies are dispatched. At one point, 20 of the county’s 40 departments are operating at the fire and coverage for the county’s firehouses is becoming difficult.

There are several reasons for the difficulty in managing fire service resources during a large-scale operation. First, in many jurisdictions, the dispatchers relocate a fire company to another firehouse only when a chief or officer from that department requests it. If every department that sends an engine, ladder, rescue or tanker to the fire or to a standby assignment in another department’s quarters then requests a standby unit to cover its firehouse, there simply would not be enough units to fight the fire and handle all the relocations. Again, the problem here is not the number of units or standbys being requested, it is the manner in which it is being handled. When dispatchers see that 20 of the county’s 40 departments are engaged, they may also realize that they need to start reaching farther out, maybe even beyond the borders of the county, to provide for all of the coverage being requested.

How can this situation be made more manageable? How can we develop a centralized system for handling standbys, covers and relocations?

The first and most important word in the previous paragraph is centralized. It can be almost impossible for a dispatcher to manage standby requests when they are coming from 20 different chiefs throughout the county. Instead, if the responsibility for the management of the standbys in particular and the adequate fire coverage of the county in general is shifted to the dispatch center, it can be handled much more quickly and efficiently from a single location.

If we look again at the same developing fire situation discussed earlier, it would unfold quite differently. The first-due department would still initially handle the fire. As it developed, the department would request mutual aid to the scene. As the additional alarms are struck, and more departments are called to assist, the chiefs at the fire could concentrate on their fireground operations and not concern themselves with who is standing by in their firehouses. The dispatch office will be monitoring its county-wide map and will see that many or all of the units in the battalions immediately surrounding the fire are at work. The dispatchers quickly consult the mutual aid plan and see that a specific firehouse in each battalion has been designated as a primary standby location, so they select and assign a company to fill that standby. These locations would be selected based on geographic and equipment availability and the chiefs of all of the departments would take part in developing and approving the standby plan.

Imaging responding to a mutual aid fire and not worrying about coverage of your now-empty firehouse. Shifting this responsibility from the chiefs in the field to the dispatch office can create a much smoother, efficient and transparent management of standbys, covers and relocations.

Chief Salka takes a candid look at news and events impacting the fire service in his blog “The Fire Scene” at http://www.firehouse.com/blogs/the-fire-scene.

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