Fire Service Incidents

Today’s fire service does much more than fight fires. The Fire Service has become the primary source of emergency response and hazard mitigation for may types of situations. The number of variety of responses may vary by department, but the need for Fire Communicators to be familiar with the different types of incidents they may encounter remains consistent. The incident types presented here are only a cross section of the large and varied incident types you may encounter. Each Fire Department may have differing policies and procedures as it relates to how they choose to respond to and deal with various emergency types. Fire Communicators must be familiar with their department’s individual response policies.

Fire Service Incidents … cont’d Fire Communicators require specialized training in fire service related areas of communications. These include fire alarm dispatching, incident command systems, hazardous materials, and in some cases, specialized technical operations. In the majority of cases there is very little prioritization of calls for service, since fire calls are typically escalating emergencies which require an immediate response. Fire Communicators require split-second decision making and an extensive knowledge of resources and response unit availability and a detailed understanding of departmental procedures.

Fire Service Incidents … cont’d While responses to fire calls can vary widely due to type, size and location; the one constant is that they are escalating emergencies. A fire has the potential to double in size every sixty seconds or so. Therefore, when gathering information for dispatch, time is of the essence. The longer it takes a Fire Communicator takes to gather information and formulate a response, the greater the risk for property damage and/or loss of life. Keep in mind that the average response time of fire crews is approximately 3 minutes. Fire spreads in under a minute! (3 min video)

Brush / Wildland Fires Brush and Wildland fires can spread very quickly, especially in dry conditions and/or high wind conditions. Information Gathering: caller’s name and call-back number exact fire location landmarks if appropriate estimated size of area involved any exposures is this possibly a controlled burn?

Fire Alarms Fire alarms are designed to detect heat, flame, smoke or water flow. Usually fire alarm reports are received in one of three ways; from a caller reporting an audible alarm at a structure, from an alarm monitoring company, or from alarm monitoring equipment which may be located in the Fire Department’s Communications Centre. Information Gathering: caller’s name and call-back number any indication of smoke or flame? has building been evacuated? has owner been notified and/or enroute? type of fire alarm activation?

Structure Fires - Residential Time is a critical factor in structure fires. It is not safe for a person to remain in a burning building to answer questions. The Fire Communicator’s first responsibility is to determine if there is the presence of an actual fire and determine if the caller is in any danger. If the caller is in the structure they must be directed to immediately exit the building, if safe to do so. Information Gathering: is it just smoke or is flame visible? what colour is the smoke? what is burning? specific location of the fire is everyone out of the building? is anyone injured? exposures / attachments? hazardous products stored?

Structure Fires – High-rise A high-rise building is defined as a building with seven (7) or more floors. High-rise buildings can contain hundreds of people and as a result, evacuation can be difficult and dangerous. When buildings are higher than the Fire Department’s highest ladder, different firefighting tactics must be implemented. An interior attack using hand lines manually advanced up the stairs, or the use of stand-pipe systems may be the only recourse. Information Gathering: exact location, including cross streets where is the fire located? (floor, apartment #) smoke and/or flame? persons trapped? any injuries? typical advice is to remain in your unit or apartment

Vehicle Fires Vehicle fires have the ability to quickly escalate into dangerous situations. Products used in today’s automobiles burn very rapidly and in some cases may explode when exposed to flame, such as hydraulic struts and bumper impact sensors. Information Gathering: exact location, including cross streets is vehicle in a garage or structure? any exposures? anyone trapped in the vehicle? any known injuries? type of vehicle? (gas, propane, natural gas, battery) hazardous products onboard? (placard or other identification) type of truck? (flatbed, tanker, box)

Rescue Related Incidents Rescue related incidents can vary widely from vehicle accidents, water rescues, technical rescues, confined space rescues, high-angle rescues, etc. Each scenario presents its own unique requirements, but the basics of call taking and information gathering remain constant. Information Gathering: exact location, including cross streets number of people involved type of injuries type of entrapment what exactly happened? how long ago did this happen? height or depth of entrapment?

Power Lines / Wires Down The Fire Service is typically the ones called when there are utility wires reported to be down. This can be the result of a vehicle accident or a weather event. Depending on the type of wires involved there may, or may not be sparks or fire involved. Identifying the type of wires involved sometimes presents a challenge for the Fire Communicator. Information Gathering: location, including cross streets type of wire? (electrical, cable, telephone) any sparks or fire visible? are any roadways blocked? any danger to adjacent structures? is electrical power out in the area?

SUMMARY Today’s Fire Service is a dynamic industry facing a myriad of challenges every day. An understanding of this will aid the Fire Communicator in providing information to responding units and protecting bystanders and victims from further harm. Incident handling policies and procedures vary among jurisdictions and it is the Fire Communicator’s responsibility to become familiar with their Communication Centre’s policy and procedures.