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4: What the Professional Firefighter Knows
- University of New Mexico Press
- Chapter
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The tragedy would be if a lot of bureaucracy ties up our needs. Javier Gonzalez, president of the National Association of Counties and a county commissioner in Santa Fe, New Mexico Do not just throw money at a fire, for money is also flammable, and the hotter flames will simply demand more and more money. The key is accountability. The history of the various Cerro Grande Fire reports (see next chapter) demonstrates how important it is for citizens to do their part but also for fire managers to follow proper, established procedures, especially about changing jurisdictions as fire moves across property boundaries. The Cerro Grande Fire demonstrates how important it is to localize those procedures, making them specific to the fire ecology of the region where the fire is occurring. If you live in the Wildfire Danger Zone, you should know how professional and volunteer firefighters are trained to deal with your particular situation. More knowledge and awareness on your part can help us all better appreciate and support our firefighters, as well as evaluate their training, preparedness, and performance . When Wildfire Danger Zone fires start and spread rapidly, there is little time for fire officials to plan and organize. Firefighters and citizens should understand the planning process in advance and develop plans for action when a major disaster threatens close to home. FOUR What the Professional Firefighter Knows Different Missions We citizens sometimes make conflicting demands on firefighters. It is important to understand and resolve these conflicts as fully as possible. Wildland fire agencies and structure fire departments have fundamentally different responsibilities, equipment, and training. The issue is not only confusing to homeowners, but also to fire agencies attempting to meet the public’s expectation for protection while fulfilling their own mission and legal responsibility. Structural firefighters are equipped and trained to attack fires in buildings. They usually rely on water systems providing ready access to piped water for firefighting. They may be on duty twenty-four hours per day, and are able to arrive at any location in their territory within minutes. They count on catching the fire in its early stages. Wildland firefighters respond to forest and other wildland fires with a mission to protect natural resources, usually found in remote areas where no piped water supplies are available. Such fires tend to be larger when the firefighters arrive. Consequently, wildland firefighters are trained and equipped to work from the lengthy perimeter of the fire and to clear the fuel from the perimeter of the fire so that it cannot continue to spread. The problem is that Wildfire Danger Zone fires cloud these responsibilities. Urban structural fire departments are no longer located just minutes away. A wildland fire’s perimeter may be miles long, and wildland fire forces are oftenspreadtoothinlytoprotectindividualstructures.Wildlandfirefighterssometimes find themselves fighting structure fires in the Wildfire Danger Zone, often without proper equipment and training. Similarly, we sometimes call structural firefighters to the scene of a Wildfire Danger Zone fire only to find a wildland fire, for which they are ill-prepared. Such confusion, especially under crisis conditions, can be both wasteful and dangerous, especially to the firefighters themselves. Not only do these crews arrive at a Wildfire Danger Zone fire scene with different equipment, training, and responsibilities, they also have different ways of assessing a fire scene and attacking the fire. Consider an example: The roof of your house is afire, while a wildfire is also raging directly behind it. Who are you going to call? A typical structural firefighter would go inside your home to confirm that no people were still there. Then s/he would determine where fire has extended into the structure, connect hoses to a water supply, and extinguish the structure fire. A typical wildland firefighter would approach the same situation by sizing up the fuel types in the path of the fire, the terrain, the rate of spread of the fire, and especially any potential hazards to the crew. Both approaches are technically correct, given the mission of their respective fire protection agencies, but each may lack a complete understanding of this fire that involves simultaneous threats to wildland natural resources and structures. CHAPTER FOUR [52.90.227.42] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 10:46 GMT) These different specialized crews need to learn how to deal with the dangers of the others’ domain, and how to work together safely and effectively. Evaluation: How the Pros Do It The first step in sizing up a wildland fire takes place...