When we talk about tactical priorities, we’re talking about the numerous actions and activities that fire companies must accomplish to bring a structural fire situation under control. The already-established goal for the fire department is to protect lives and property. The difficult part of organizing and implementing tactical priorities is that there are far more variables that affect a department’s capability to successfully initiate and complete these tactics than there are tactics themselves.

The variables that every department must consider when establishing tactical priorities can have a dramatic effect on the sequence by which a department conducts these tactics.

Variables

Of course, on arrival at a structural fire, a department must get an attack hoseline into operation to confine and extinguish the fire, but must that be the first tactic that occurs? Sometimes, yes; sometimes, no. What if forcible entry is required before the hoseline can enter? What if the officer of the first engine decides to conduct a rapid 360 before the hoseline begins the attack?

What other variables can affect the order in which tactics are conducted? Staffing is a major ingredient. If an engine company arrives with a driver, an officer and two firefighters on board, can more than one tactic be initiated simultaneously? Yes. The officer can perform the 360 while the firefighters pull, flake out, charge and bleed the attack hoseline. Can those two firefighters enter the burning building without the officer and begin fire attack? The answer might be yes; some departments instruct the first-arriving engine officer to remain outside and in command while the nozzle team of two firefighters enters for fire attack.

Apparatus’ effect

Which apparatus arrives first at a structural fire also has a dramatic effect on which tactics should be initiated first. In the FDNY, a ladder company that’s staffed with an officer and five firefighters routinely arrives before any other unit and immediately initiates truck company tactics, such as forcible entry, search and ventilation. When the next company arrives—usually, an engine—a hoseline immediately is stretched and put into operation. In this situation, the simple fact that the truck arrived before the engine resulted in the truck tactics being prioritized.

Another variable to this situation might be when a 100-foot aerial quint that has a 500-gallon booster tank arrives first, with the first-to-arrive engine still four minutes away. Here, a ladder company apparatus that’s staffed by firefighters who are experienced in truck company tactics has a choice between going to work as an engine or a truck. Many departments would require this company to initiate engine company tactics and stretch and operate the initial attack hoseline.

When victims are involved

Another serious variable is when people are reported trapped or visibly are endangered. Should the engine that arrives alone with no second unit due to arrive soon go for the rescue or stretch the line to the fire first? Questions you must consider are: Where is the fire? How advanced is the fire? How endangered is the victim if visible? Where is the missing victim or is that unknown? Do you have enough people on board to start a meaningful rescue operation?

Worth scrutiny

When you study and discuss within your department what tactics must be initiated first, second, etc., you must consider the numerous variables that dramatically affect the effectiveness of those tactics. Establishing that you want a hoseline to be stretched as soon as possible and that a search team should begin a primary search immediately after the hoseline is stretched looks and sounds good, but make sure that you look long and hard at the variables and remember that how your department handles this issue might be quite different from how your neighboring departments do.