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Command and Conquer
Some things never change. 32 years of service and I still see some things that should change, but never do.
Command is one of these things that never seem to quite work the way we're taught.
Company "A" has a fire and calls for help from neighboring departments (mutual aid) who have pledged to respond. Sounds good, so far... but that is when the trouble starts.
The control and command of the fire is the responsibility of Company "A", but upon arrival of the neighboring companies the chain of command begins to crumble.
Company "B" arrives, but it's troops will only follow the orders of Company "B" officers, who also believe it's their fire. Tell a firefighter from Company "B" to stand down, when that firefighter thinks he should be charging in, and a Company "A" officer can get told where to go (in no uncertain terms). I've seen it happen.
WHAT? CAN THIS BE ? SAY IT ISN'T SO!
It can be, and often is. Worse is that the more companies that arrive to help the worse it gets. Now imagine 3 0r 4 more companies helping Company "A". Total lack of control, and respect for officers not in their own company. Total company wide freelancing.
Freelancing that everyone knows can lead to real trouble; injuries, deaths, lawsuits, you name it. Everyone has had the training. Everyone knows what they are supposed to do, and yet...somewhere in the mix the message got lost.
I know it isn't easy to take orders, or commands from other company officers. I understand that often you don't know the Commanding Officers on a personal basis. It's hard, really hard to place your trust in someone who isn't part of "Your Team". But, without that willingness to say "ok, it's their fire" one not only contributes to the mayhem, but also to the risk.
Now this isn't true of every company, or every mutual aid call, or even every fire. But what I don't understand is why when chiefs do have a meeting this isn't a "must discuss" topic.
Command is one of these things that never seem to quite work the way we're taught.
Company "A" has a fire and calls for help from neighboring departments (mutual aid) who have pledged to respond. Sounds good, so far... but that is when the trouble starts.
The control and command of the fire is the responsibility of Company "A", but upon arrival of the neighboring companies the chain of command begins to crumble.
Company "B" arrives, but it's troops will only follow the orders of Company "B" officers, who also believe it's their fire. Tell a firefighter from Company "B" to stand down, when that firefighter thinks he should be charging in, and a Company "A" officer can get told where to go (in no uncertain terms). I've seen it happen.
WHAT? CAN THIS BE ? SAY IT ISN'T SO!
It can be, and often is. Worse is that the more companies that arrive to help the worse it gets. Now imagine 3 0r 4 more companies helping Company "A". Total lack of control, and respect for officers not in their own company. Total company wide freelancing.
Freelancing that everyone knows can lead to real trouble; injuries, deaths, lawsuits, you name it. Everyone has had the training. Everyone knows what they are supposed to do, and yet...somewhere in the mix the message got lost.
I know it isn't easy to take orders, or commands from other company officers. I understand that often you don't know the Commanding Officers on a personal basis. It's hard, really hard to place your trust in someone who isn't part of "Your Team". But, without that willingness to say "ok, it's their fire" one not only contributes to the mayhem, but also to the risk.
Now this isn't true of every company, or every mutual aid call, or even every fire. But what I don't understand is why when chiefs do have a meeting this isn't a "must discuss" topic.
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Comment by Richard Shankman on February 4, 2009 at 3:03pm
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I wouldn't say it's a free-for-all, but there are issues. We'll see how things go after our next elections. Hopefully the new Chief will enforce the rules, and those that don't want to play nice, can just go home.
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Comment by FETC on January 30, 2009 at 10:18am
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Richard, this is a pretty simple fix, unfortunately it has been instilled by tradition which is not an easy fix.. I find it hard to believe your last comment though, so your own department is a free-for-all?
Luckily, this is not seen in my area but if you can not understand that there is only one incident commander and how the chain of command works (just like the class) then you have bigger problems internally than just why can't we make the call work like the training program.... it is called lack of respect, training, discipline and maturity.
I have seen what you have mentioned only once in my career, and that company was told "Quote" To pack their shit up and get back to their town, while the fire was still burning.
And if you did this around here now-a-days, that mutual aid run card would be changed immediately after this call... and then "the hoopies" would be left to listen to the hoopie scanner for the next fire....
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That would work. Most of our officers haven't learned how to say "no" yet.
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Comment by Engineco913 on January 28, 2009 at 9:49pm
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Unfortunately it's an implied consent that these firefighters coming in from a neighboring department are competent and also trained. Through proper training on command level structuring there should be 0 issues with who is in charge and who to follow orders from. In my eyes if a department shows up and freelances they are now part of the problem and no part of the solution. I would have them pack their rig and head back home. For every department that refuses to do it right, theres 5 more willing to do it your way.
After the first 2 calls or so of being sent packing, they will get the hint.
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Comment by Kimberly A Bownas on January 28, 2009 at 8:21pm
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Nicely done. I agree with you on why isn't this discussed at the Chief's meetings. These are things that need to be discussed and how to fix them not sweep them under the rug and say it will fix its self...
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