Strategy and Tactics

Strategy and Tactics

STRATEGY AND TACTICS

The Model Incident Command System Series:

Strategy, tactics, and methods; three interrelated yet distinct operations needed to bring any emergency incident under control.

In this eleventh article on the National Fire Academy’s model incident command system, we will discuss the definitions of each of these terms, their applications at the incident scene, and the mental process involved in setting up proper strategic priorities.

ATTACK MODE

Strategy depends, in part, on the incident commander’s perception of the proper attack mode to employ. The choice of attack mode is based upon whether or not there are enough resources available to overcome the problems being encountered; and determining the adequacy or inadequacy of resources is based upon the incident size-up. Normally, one of the following strategic attack modes is selected:

• Offensive
• Offensive/defensive
• Defensive/offensive
• Defensive.

Offensive

An offensive mode is an aggressive attack on the situation. On-scene forces can apply the required flow and carry out the other tasks needed to control the incident. Generally in an offensive mode, an interior attack is being pursued and resources exceed what is needed to extinguish the fire.

Offensive/defensive

A variation of the offensive mode, the offensive/defensive attack calls for a pessimistic approach. An aggressive mode will be attempted while backing up your forces and allowing for defensive coverage. You are still conducting an interior attack, but you are having a few outside personnel set up some master stream devices at strategic points, just in case you need to flow them. Or, because the smoke isn’t changing to steam the way you predicted, you have called for a few more pumpers just in case things get away from the first alarm.

Defensive/offensive

Because of heavy fire involvement, your one-alarm assignment is presently overwhelmed. You go on the defensive, protecting exposures and getting in front of the fire with personnel and hoselines wherever possible. You are partially cutting the fire off and keeping it confined to the building of origin, but it is larger than you can handle. You have requested additional units to increase the strength of the interior attack and address the confinement and extinguishment of the fire. With the arrival of additional forces, you go on the offensive.

Defensive

This is usually an exterior, surround-and-drown operation with exposure protection the first priority. The demand on resources exceeds your on-scene capability.

Determining which strategic mode to adopt is a mental selection process. Since the operational tactics for each strategy are significantly different, the incident commander must be mentally aware of what mode is applicable to the situation. This is as basic as the football coach determining whether his team or the other team has the ball, who is on the offensive, and who is on the defensive. Until he knows this information, the coach can hardly determine what strategy and tactics to apply.

STRATEGY

Strategy can be defined as the overall goal, the broad objectives, the game plan. Strategy is developed through an analysis of the size-up factors that will indicate what problems must be overcome to bring the incident under control.

Football coaches look at films of next Sunday’s rival team and decide on a strategy or several strategies. One strategy may be to control the ball in a ground game; a second strategy could be to stop the rival team from completing short passes to their offensive backs; a third strategy could be to blitz on most third and long yardage situations. Meeting the correct strategic objectives will make us successful over our opponent.

What are the strategies that are used in the incident command area? At this point, we must refer to FIRE FIGHTING TACTICS by Lloyd Layman. The fire service’s strategic priorities are just as valid today as they were when first written many years ago. Listed in descending order of priority, they are:

• Rescue
• Exposures
• Confinement
• Extinguishment
• Overhaul.

Two other strategic objectives that may be used when and where needed are:

• Ventilation
• Salvage.

Depending on the size-up factors, several strategies may be evident to us. Confinement and ventilation may be required to stop the fire spread. Extinguishment, and then overhaul and salvage, may be required to completely extinguish the fire and lessen the loss.

Strategy is a mental concept, a thought or group of thoughts concluded from the size-up analysis. It is the mental perception of what broad goals must be achieved, and in what order, to solve the problem or problems facing the incident commander. Setting strategy or strategies is the basis of effective, coordinated incident control.

While the analysis of facts and the establishment of a strategy may not guarantee a successful conclusion, you can rest assured that a failure to set your strategic priorities will spell confusion at best, and disaster at worst. If an incident commander has not determined his problems, how can companies be assigned to jobs in a coordinated fashion? What will be the cumulative result of the work accomplished by each of the companies? What are they working toward? If there is no strategic objective, there will be no coordinated effort to accomplish anything, except squirting water on the flames. Sure, everyone on the scene will be working, but they will be accomplishing very little in terms of effective fire and loss control.

Strategy is developed through an analysis of the size-up factors that will indicate what problems must be overcome to bring the incident under control. In descending order of importance, the fire service’s strategic priorities are:

• Rescue
• Exposures
• Confinement
• Extinguishment
• Overhaul

TACTICS

Once the problems have been identified and the strategy or strategic objectives have been selected, it is time to start assigning sub-objectives to companies. Tactics or tactical objectives is the name given to the sub-objectives.

When performed correctly, the tactical assignments form part of an overall plan designed to accomplish a specific result. Tactical objectives must be assigned by the incident commander based on his strategy and in coordination with the tactical objectives assigned to other companies. When companies are allowed to “freelance” there is no way that the efforts of all the companies will be directed toward a common goal. “Free enterprise” firefighting produces inefficiency through duplication of effort in some places, total lack of effort in others, and wasted or unneeded effort in the rest. This type of firefighting cannot only result in confused, uncontrolled incident scenes, but confused, uncontrolled incident commanders as well.

Determining strategy and assigning tactical objectives is the job of the incident commander. Classroom experience has shown that most fire officers are consistent with one another when it comes to being strategists and determining the problems that must be overcome and the strategic objectives that must be met at an incident scene. However, we differ greatly in how we accomplish the strategic objectives through tactical assignments.

While skinning the cat may be the strategy, there are literally a thousand starting, middle, and ending places. Tactically assigning companies to accomplish any particular strategy can be just as varied. This is why free enterprise firefighting does not produce effective coordination. Each incoming officer may well develop the same strategy, but each will probably have a very different tactical approach to accomplish the strategy. Since each officer will be assigning his own company, he will select the job most important in his point of view. What we have is multiple incident commanders; like a football team with three or four quarterbacks in the huddle all shouting plays at the same time and each expecting that his play will be the same as all the others that are being called.

METHODS

Once the incident commander has selected the strategy and assigned tactical objectives, it is up to the company commander to determine how he will meet the assigned objectives. Most objectives are met through the completion of tasks outlined in our evolutions manual, such as the way that we raise a 24-foot ladder with two personnel, how we load and pull a 1 3/4-inch pre-connect line, how we hoist tools to a roof, how we raise and climb an aerial ladder, etc. The methods are the nuts and bolts of how we perform various jobs.

MANAGE BY EXCEPTION

Fire departments should adopt incident scene radio procedures that allow the incident commander to manage by exception. This simply means that if everything is going well while you are carrying out your tactical assignment, stay off the radio! Superfluous radio chatter only distracts the command staff from the necessary thinking and planning that must be done to resolve the incident. Subordinates should make reports to the incident commander only if:

• They have met the objective, indicating that they are ready for another assignment;
• They cannot meet the objective and the reason why;
• There is a safety problem and where;
• They need more resources to meet the objective.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

Rescue

Human life is the most important consideration at any emergency. The strategy of rescue, which also includes search, means removing civilians from a place of danger to a place of safety, not necessarily outside the fire building. Rescue could also include the saving of valuable animals and livestock.

The rescue of human life overrides all other strategic considerations at an incident. Firefighting operations must in no way interfere with or delay rescue operations. It requires a lot of discipline to let the fire spread while the first-alarm assignment commits its personnel to the removal of victims, but it may have to be done.

You can only do a certain number of tasks at any one time, so you will have to prioritize what you are going to do. The officer in charge must determine during size-up if, in fact, people are in danger. If they are, the officer must use the strategy of rescue first. No other strategies can be addressed until the rescue strategy has been dealt with. We did not say accomplished, we said dealt with. If there are sufficient companies and personnel to handle the rescue problem and additional personnel are still available, other strategies may be dealt with simultaneously.

Exposures

Exposure protection is the strategy of preventing a fire from spreading to exterior exposures (nearby uninvolved structures, etc.) or to interior exposures (uninvolved areas within the fire structure). Once the rescue strategy has been dealt with, exposure protection is the second most important consideration, preventing the fire from extending past the area of origin. The size-up must produce sufficient facts to allow the incident commander to decide whether there is an exposure problem.

The thing that fire officers must remember is this: You did not start the fire, you are just there to find the best way to handle and mitigate the situation. In major structural fires, if people are saved and the fire is kept from spreading, the fire department has accomplished a lot. Fire officers whose districts include heavily congested areas fully understand the importance of containing the tremendous heat from a well-involved building. The threat of radiant heat igniting exposures is always with them. It may be necessary at times to writeoff the fire building and concentrate all available water on keeping the fire from spreading to exposures.

Confinement

After rescue and exposures have been addressed, the incident commander will employ the strategy of confinement. Confinement means preventing the fire from extending to uninvolved sections of the building. In a structure, the incident commander must ensure that the fire spread is checked in all six directions; the four sides and the areas above and below the fire. It is essential that personnel be assigned to get ahead of the fire in all directions and work back toward the involved area, extinguishing the fire as they go.

Some structures present difficult confinement problems, such as the shopping center that has a common attic (cockloft) over several stores. If a proper confinement strategy is not employed, and the incident commander or companies go right for extinguishment, the fire may get into the cockloft and spread throughout the structure. In this case, the incident commander will probably end up chasing the fire through the building with resultant major fire loss.

Another confinement problem exists in buildings of balloon-frame (no fire stopping) construction. These older structures have literally made fools of otherwise good fire officers. There are endless voids and concealed spaces that the fire can travel through.

Once a fire has entered the concealed spaces, the effort becomes manpower intensive. Numerous walls, floors, and ceilings must be opened on a number of floors between the many studs and joists. Should too little manpower be utilized, the incident commander will spend agonizing hours watching the structure burn area by area. A confinement strategy cannot be glossed over in a hurry to get to extinguishment. It is your responsibility as an incident commander to make sure that you have the fire contained and stopped from spreading.

Extinguishment

And now, we reach the strategy that you all have been waiting for, putting out the fire. After you have addressed all the other strategies discussed so far, the actual seat of the fire is attacked and extinguished.

Remember, in most fire situations, a quick and aggressive attack on the seat of the fire will take care of rescue, exposures, and confinement at the same time. There is no substitute for aggressive, interior firefighting whenever possible. An effective fire officer must be able to determine when a quick attack on the seat of the fire is most appropriate and when a more methodical, step-by-step approach toward extinguishment is needed due to the complexity of the incident (such as if there is a known life hazard in the building).

We cannot emphasize enough that the incident commander must make a well thought out, conscientious decision whether or not to go immediately to an extinguishment strategy to alleviate all the other problems that are present. Companies that assign themselves to an extinguishment strategy in a free enterprise fire suppression system are probably commanded by officers who do not understand the real priorities that exist on the incident scene or the importance of coordinating the efforts of all the companies.

Overhaul

The purpose of overhaul is to make sure that the fire is completely out. Many firefighters are killed and injured during this phase because they are more relaxed, tired, less alert, and have probably taken off their self-contained breathing apparatus. Studies are showing that there are large quantities of toxic gases still in the atmosphere of a smouldering building (see FIRE ENGINEERING, March 1985, “Lethal agent in smoke,” page 20). With a weakened building, collapse, partial collapse, or failure of structural elements supporting heavy objects is a distinct possibility. If a fire occurred in a building during darkness, overhaul may be better done in the daylight with fresh crews if there is a danger of collapse.

Overhaul is extremely important to prevent rekindling. A rekindle is comparable to the stitches coming undone just after the doctor finishes the operation. It can be disastrous and, at the very least, embarrassing, unprofessional, and painful. It could also lead to gross negligence litigation.

Continued on page 30

Continued from page 28

Ventilation

Depending on the situation, ventilation could be needed at any time in the strategic hierarchy. The value and importance of ventilation is often overlooked by fire officers, especially when no ladder company is available. Ventilation is often (erroneously) viewed as something done after the fire is under control or solely for the comfort of the firefighters. In reality, ventilation is a key firefighting tool that may be vital to rescue, confinement, extinguishment, and the protection of exposures.

In rescue operations, ventilation can be used to channel fire and the products of combustion away from potential fire victims.

In confinement operations, rooftop ventilation is used to help prevent flashover and fire extension by removing heat and channeling the travel of the heat and fire. The incident commander must understand this phenomenon and prepare for possible fire spread in the ventilation direction.

In extinguishment operations, ventilation will clear the atmosphere and cause the fire to be more visible to firefighters. It allows the interior of the structure to be more tenable and safer for firefighting operations. However, when the fire is given a fresh supply of oxygen, the intensity and heat of the fire will be significantly increased. Therefore, ventilation must be coordinated with hoseline placement and operation. A number of buildings are lost every year when ventilation is completed before engine companies are in place to make an attack on the seat of the fire. The key to ventilation is knowing when, how, and where to do it.

Salvage

Salvage may be necessary at any point during firefighting. Salvage is defined as those operations required to safeguard personal property, furnishings, and the unaffected portions of a structure from the effects of heat, smoke, fire, water, and the weather. Salvage most often involves the use of salvage covers, water removal, and removal or relocation of contents to a safe area. Removing debris and sorting valuables from the debris are important parts of salvage. Salvage is also an important psychological aid to fire victims in that it can reduce the fire loss and make victims feel that things aren’t as bad as they looked in the beginning.

Ladder companies have the prime responsibility for salvage operations, but engine companies often assist and conduct salvage if there is no ladder company service. Salvage is everyone’s responsibility. Minimum water usage and care with forcible entry tools can go a long way in reducing damage.

TACTICS TO ACHIEVE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

As noted before, tactical objectives are carried out at the company level and are narrower in scope than strategic objectives. Once the incident commander has determined the strategic objectives for mitigating the problems being faced, he must assign companies the tactical objectives that will produce a coordinated effort to achieve the overall strategy.

Since several strategic objectives can be carried out simultaneously, and since any number of tactical objectives can be performed to effect these strategies, it is the duty of the incident commander to choose which tactical assignments should be executed to accomplish each of the seven strategic priorities:

Rescue

• Position a handline between the fire and the most severely exposed occupants;
• Protect the means of egress by efficient operations;
• Search the fire floor and the floors above the fire. Eventually, all floors will have to be answered for;
• Make a direct aggressive attack on the fire and extinguish it;
• Ventilate to channel the fire and remove the products of combustion;
• Ladder the structure to remove otherwise trapped victims and to
• gain access for search and rescue operations;
• Assist in orderly evacuation procedures and/or removal of occupants;
• If life can be sufficiently isolated from the fire, leave the occupants in rooms or areas of refuge after assuring them of their safety;
• Remove occupants by alternate arteries, e.g., fire escapes, fire stairs, etc.;
• Use life nets, helicopters, etc., only as a last resort;
• Employ additional measures as conditions indicate.

Exposures

• Direct hose streams on the exposures needing protection;
• Begin the attack on the fire;
• Remove combustible materials from the path of fire and heat;
• Direct heavy caliber streams on threatening fire from a position that also protects the exposures;
• Protect openings in exposed buildings;
• Keep smoke, heat, and fire out of the air handling systems;
• Ventilate to draw fire and heat from exposures;
• Protect exposures from flying brands and sparks;
• Get ahead of the fire travel;
• Augment or support automatic fire protection systems in exposed buildings;
• Protect all six sides of the fire;
• Constantly monitor the interiors and exteriors of the exposures;
• Employ any additional procedures as may be necessary to provide effective exposure protection.

Confinement

• Locate the seat of the fire;
• Cut off fire spread and surround the fire on all sides;
• Check for fire extension;
• Begin a quick attack on the seat of the fire;
• Assure operation of fire doors, sprinklers, etc. Report if any of these are not functioning properly;
• Stretch lines above the fire as necessary;
• Shut off or control the air handling systems;
• Protect vertical openings;
• Perform ventilation to channel

Continued on page 32

Continued from page 30

• the fire and products of combustion;
• Move exposed combustibles;
• Employ tactics as necessary to assure confinement and control.

Extinguishment

• Locate the seat and extent of the fire;
• Use handlines;
• Make an interior attack on the seat of the fire;
• Use master streams;
• Use exterior attack in defensive situations;
• Support sprinkler systems;
• Use standpipe systems;
• Use extinguishing agents other than water;
• Take lines up the interior stairs;
• Take lines up ladders or fire escapes;
• Reinforce tough and key positions;
• Attack a fire in the attic from below;
• Attack fire in shafts, cocklofts, walls, and partitions;
• Employ additional tactics and procedures as needed to support extinguishment.

Overhaul

• Find hidden fire locations;
• Start overhaul from the top and work down, when possible;
• Open walls, ceilings, floors, and shafts;
• Remove debris;
• Flood smouldering debris with water and, if possible, remove debris to a containment area to reduce water damage;
• Restore the fire protection systems if possible, or notify the authorities assigned to accomplish the restoration;
• De-energize damaged electrical circuits;
• Shut off utilities when necessary;
• Leave a watch line and firefighters at the scene;
• Employ tactics and procedures necessary to assure that the structure is free from any further threat of fire prior to leaving the scene.

Ventilation

• Perform conventional (natural) ventilation;
• Perform mechanical ventilation;
• Use fog streams to ventilate;
• Channel heat, smoke, and fire away from trapped occupants;
• Use existing channels in the building to ventilate vertically;
• Open the roof when conditions indicate;
• Open or remove windows and obstacles to horizontal ventilation;
• Employ tactics and procedures that will assure that prompt and effective ventilation techniques are used throughout the operation.

Salvage

• Remove stock or furniture to a safe place;
• Recover and protect important business records, family possessions, etc.;
• Use salvage covers;
• Remove debris from the building;

Continued on page 34

Continued from page 32

• Cover up unsafe holes in floors;
• Cover up holes in roofs;
• Protect the structure from the weather;
• Remove all water from the interior of the structure;
• Employ tactics and procedures necessary to reduce as much of the secondary effects of the fire as possible.

SUMMARY

The incident commander is responsible for establishing the attack mode, offensive, offensive/defensive, defensive/offensive, or defensive. The attack mode is decided upon by analyzing fire scene conditions and determining whether or not there are sufficient resources to handle the situation. Until the incident commander makes this determination, it is nearly impossible to set strategic objectives and make tactical assignments.

Setting the strategic objectives is a mental process developed from the analysis of the size-up factors. Fire department strategies must be determined in order of priority: rescue, exposures, confinement, extinguishment, and overhaul, with ventilation and salvage used where needed. Once the incident commander has determined the strategic objectives, directives to companies in the form of tactical objectives or assignments are issued to accomplish the strategic objectives.

The tactical objectives are carried out at the company level, usually in coordination with the actions of other companies. These coordinated actions will be the culmination of the incident commander’s analytical approach to effective incident abatement. The analysis of the situation, of course, is ongoing, with the incident commander continually sizing up the situation and making adjustments in strategic and tactical objectives where necessary.

In the final chapters on the incident command series, we will address: dividing the fireground; handling a major incident using the incident command system; and will provide an update on the fire flow formula.