FHWorld16: Trust Between Officers, Chiefs Critical to Fireground Operations

SAN DIEGO - Two veteran firefighters spoke about the need for trust, communications and understanding between company officers and battalion chiefs on the fireground at  Firehouse World this morning. 

San Jose, Calif. Capt. Bob Leonard and retired Battalion Chief Kevin Conant presented “Inside/Outside: Strategy & Tactics from the Captain and the Chief's View” that showed attendees how those three traits can help a fireground run efficiently. 

According to research that Leonard conducted, a majority of the fires in San Jose were knocked with less than 50 gallons of water.

“That stat shows that getting the first line in place is critical,” Conant said.

“We saw this class as an opportunity to build on the relationships between the first captain on scene and the battalion chief….we want to see the chief officer or IC really support the captain on the inside. The rest of the alarm should be there to support the initial attack and the chief officer needs to support their decisions…”

Firehouse World attendees watched a video where the scene shows firefighters engaged in an offensive attack in a large masonry building. The building was scheduled to be demolished the next week.

About 90 minutes into the firefight, a wall collapsed and nearly crushed an engineer.

“When I think about it…the crews were in the wrong position and the wrong strategy was being used. No one questioned anything prior to that collapse.”

When Conant was assigned to a new battalion district in downtown San Jose, he established monthly captain’s meetings that allowed the officers to come together to review incidents, discuss concerns and develop plans.

“I first said to them, ‘How come, when I go to see the orchestra they all seem to be on the same sheet of music and when I end up on the fireground, where situations are hazardous and deadly, it’s not the same?’”

He stressed the need to define maturity and professionalism amongst his crews, saying that professionalism focuses on the need to respect each person’s boundaries.

Maturity comes from experience, Conant said. “They are fighting fire based on experience, tradition or ritual.”

A red flag for battalion chiefs should officers who only feel they can fight fires from the inside, Conant stressed. He said that issue needs to be addressed and cannot be handled by “management by doing nothing.”

They also established on-scene critiques that evolved into robust reviews that “helped us break habits of rituals,” Conant said. “It helps us focus on our safety training.

Conant shares three tips to help build those relationships in the battalion:

• SOGs that reflect the best way to do the work. He said repetitions on the policies through repetition build the foundation to keep using them.
• A focus on training that works best on street, based on sound fire science.
• Captains need to have written expectations for their crews based on SOGs. That will help the firefighters know their roles. 

Leonard pushed the concept of drills to Conant, who established “sets and reps” drills for crew each weekend.

The hour-long drills focus on one skill in one hour and go through the evolution of a response from the station without lights and sirens.

Once at the drill site, the crew conducts the drills and closed with a discussion. He said any lecture before the drill was limited to 15 minutes. 

“There was lots less talking and lots more doing,” Conant said of the drills after crews began running through them.

One such drill focused on engine companies making rescued by ladder. The skill is practical in the city since truck companies often have long responses.

Conant rewarded a crew with a $50 Starbucks gift card during a drill that focused on hoseline deployments.

The crew had to guess how much hose would be needed to reach a cone at various locations in downtown. Whichever company guessed right won the gift card.

“The guys who were best at it were the golfers,” Conant laughed, saying that they need to know distance and wind to make the most of their time on the green.

They said the initial radio report includes:

• A description of the building
• A description of the problem
• The initial incident action plan
• The declaration of strategy
• The determination of what resources were needed
• Established and name the command

The need to properly execute the transfer of command between officers was stressed. 

“The chief will challenge, confirm and validate...it’s not that they don’t trust the plan, it’s just used to make sure it’s the best course of action.”

Conant summed it up saying that this fireground management method is “taking the ICS down to the very local level at working fires.

More from Firehouse World 2016

• Photos: Day 1 - Future Firefighter Program
• FHWorld16: Firehouse Ambassadors Get Lessons in Values
• FHWorld16: Fireground Air Management - A US/UK Perspective
• FHWorld16: Building a Robust Fire Dynamics Training Program
• FHWorld16: The Halligan Is a Valuable Tool on the Fireground
• FHWorld16: Sendelbach Poses Challenge to Fire Service
• FHWorld16: Chief Hood Says It's 'Time to Own It'
• FHWorld16: Leading Health Risks on the Modern Fireground
• FHWorld16: An International Look at Firefighting
• Photos: Day 2 - Firehouse World 2016
• FHWorld16: Strategies & Tactics for Residential Attic Fires
• FHWorld16: Safety in the Decision-Making Process
• FHWorld16: Trust Between Officers, Chiefs Critical to Fireground Operations
• FHWorld16: Weathering Organizational Change Takes the Efforts of Many