ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
INCIDENT
COMMANDER
Roles
The Incident Commander is responsible
for the overall management of the incident and will focus on command and
control, deployment of resources, tactical planning, and the health and safety
of crews.
While it is reasonable to assume an Incident Commander could manage
a
small
incident by dealing directly with all crews and individuals on scene
the same
assumption cannot be made for example, at larger incidents with
crews working
in other locations or when many crews are involved.
The Incident Commander will normally be the senior officer present at the
incident according to each Brigade’s policy determining ranks and
responsibilities at incidents.
On occasion a more senior officer may choose to attend an incident as an
observer. That officer will under
the Fire Services Act, have overall responsibility for the incident, but need
not assume the role of Incident Commander.
The senior officer may opt to act as an OBSERVER to the Incident Commander, (refer to ICS Structure flow
chart) reviewing tactical plans assessing resource management and giving
guidance as appropriate, but that officer will work directly with the Incident
Commander and will not interrupt the
chain of command. Naturally, a
senior officer may choose to assume the role of Incident Commander should it be
considered appropriate.
Responsibilities
At all incidents the Incident Commander will ensure (as soon as
reasonably practical) that an individual is nominated as command support and a contact point identified.
The Incident Commander, following a risk assessment of the incident, will
allocate areas of responsibility to officers as necessary.
These officers and specialist officers may be sector commanders.
In the early stages of an incident the officers, of necessity, may be
junior officers commanding appliances.
In order to manage the span of
control effectively at larger incidents it will be
necessary for
the Incident Commander to delegate responsibility and devolve
authority for
some operations.
The creation of sectors will only be done on the order of the Incident
Commander who will sectorise in a way appropriate to the demands of the
incident.
Frequently, operations take place in more than one location during
an
incident, for
example at the front and rear of a building.
In such cases the Incident
Commanders span of control may only be two or three (to crew commanders).
As an example, at a typical semi-detached house fire the Incident
Commander has
the ability to monitor tasks at the front and back simply
by moving to and
fro; there is unlikely to be the need to sectorise.
However, if the house were mid-terraced with no quick access
between
front and back,
then despite the small span of control, it is unlikely that the
Incident Commander
will be able to adequately manage operations and
supervise safety to
the front and back. In this
case the most appropriate
response would be
for the Incident Commander to retain command of the
front of the
building and any support activities, but to nominate a Sector
Commander and
assign all operations at the rear of the building to that
sector.
The principle is that sectorising is driven by the need to delegate
responsibility and
authority in order to ensure appropriate command and
safety monitoring
of all activities.
It will be necessary for the Incident Commander to identify suitable
areas of operations as sectors of responsibility and to designate each sector.
Sector Commanders will be appointed for each sector.
The Sector Commander will report to the Incident Commander, or
where
appropriate,
the Operations Commander.
In order to allow clear definitions of sector responsibility, sectors
must have clearly defined boundaries. These
may be topographic, usually the case for operational sectors (geographical) or
support sectors (functions) eg Water Sector or Decontamination Sector.
The following are some examples
·
A
large building may have a sector covering each face;
·
A
multi-storey building a sector for each floor
NOTE:
Buildings will be sectorised consecutively clockwise
for the initial
access point and multi-storey buildings may be sectorised
by floor, from
ground floor up.
Other examples may be:
·
A
multiple RTA may have a sector for each group of vehicles
·
A
heath land fire may necessitate a sector for each firefighting front.
·
A
sector can also be an area of responsibility or specialist (functional) role.
Sector Commanders should always stay within their sector as they
provide direct and visible leadership at each sector and need to remain directly
accessible to the crew commanders for whom they are responsible.
No persons should enter a Sector without prior identification to the
SC. The SC must be aware of all persons within his/her sector.
Identification
An Incident Commander is identified by a white tabard bearing the words
‘FIRE INCIDENT COMMANDER’.
SECTOR
COMMANDER
Roles
Sector Commanders are created when the Incident Commander wishes to
devolve responsibility for particular
operations. Their role is to assume
responsibility for all
operations within their Sector.
These include tactical
operations, Health & Safety
of any personnel within their Sector and
Resources.
Responsibilities
The Sector Commander (Geographical) will report to the Incident Commander
or where appropriate to the Operations Commander.
An officer assigned as a Sector Commander should assume the sector name
as the incident ground radio call sign eg ‘Sector Two’.
This identification of sector names and their use as call signs can be
extended to the functional support sectors eg water, contamination or
marshalling.
Geographical Sector Commanders are responsible for all activities within
their
Sector. The Sector will be a physical area of the incident ground ie
front, rear of
building,
structure or vehicle. Sector
Commanders may appoint Crew
Commanders to
reduce lines of communication.
Functional Sector Commanders are responsible for an aspect of
Service
Operations ie
water, foam, marshalling.
Identification
A Sector Commander is identified by a red and yellow tabard.
Functions
will be clearly signed on the front and back of the tabard.
COMMAND
SUPPORT
Roles
Command
Support will be introduced as soon as reasonably practicable at all
incidents to
assist the Incident Commander in the management of the incident.
The
Incident
Commander will nominate a junior officer or firefighter as Command Support
who will
operate from the designated contact point.
Consideration should be given to identifying a contact point which is not
involved directly in operations. An
appliance not involved in pumping or a Command Support Vehicle may be suitable
for this purpose.
Command Support should initially provide and maintain, radio
communication between Brigade Control and Incident Commander and will also have
the following responsibilities:-
·
To
use the Command Support pack carried on each appliance to assist in recording
and monitoring of incident.
·
To
act as first contact point for all attending appliances, officers, other
agencies and to maintain a physical record or resources in attendance at the incident.
·
To
operate the main-scheme radio link to the Brigade Control and to record
all main-scheme radio communications.
·
To
assist the Incident Commander in liaison with other agencies.
·
To
direct attending appliances to an operational location or marshalling area as
instructed by the Incident Commander and to record
the status of all resources.
·
To
maintain a record of the outcome of
the risk assessment and any review,
as well as any operational decisions or actions taken as a result of it.
·
To
record sector identifications and
officers’ duties as the assignments are made.
At larger incidents a Command Support Vehicle will be mobilised together
with some form of support. An
officer will head the Command Support Sector and be responsible for all areas of
support to the Incident Commander.
The additional duties of Command Support at a large, escalating incident,
may well include:-
Arranging
appliance positioning and parking to minimise congestion.
This role may require close liaison with the police or other agencies in
order to arrange for parked vehicles to be moved.
·
Liaising
with crews of Specialist Units to ensure optimum support to operational sectors.
·
Arranging
additional or specialist equipment and crews to Sector Commanders as required by
the Incident Commander.
·
Liaising
with other agencies as necessary, including booking in and supervision of their
staff, managing the media etc.
·
Briefing
designated personnel.
·
Arranging
the relief of appliances and personnel.
·
Analytical
risk assessment.
Identification
The Command Support Team will be identified by a red/white Chequered
Tabard bearing the words – FIRE COMMAND
SUPPORT.
OPERATIONS
COMMANDER
Role
The role of Operations Commander exists as a means of maintaining working
spans of control when the incident develops in size and complexity.
Responsibilities
The Operations Commander’s function is to co-ordinate the Operational
Sectors and to exercise the Incident Commander’s authority in that sphere.
The Operations Commander must not become involved in support activities
e.g. management of support sectors, liaison with press or other matters etc;
that should be dealt with by Command Support.
The Operations Commander’s role should be purely focused on supporting
the Sector Commanders, co-ordinating their requests and requirements and
monitoring safety and risk assessments.
It is important to note that if an incident does not demand the use of
Operational Commanders because there are not enough sectors or activity is too
low, then this extra tier is best omitted.
There is no advantage in over structuring an incident.
At unusually large incidents it may be necessary to use more than one
Operations Commander to maintain span of control.
Such incidents are likely to be very rare.
Identification
The Operations Commander will be identified by wearing a Red Tabard bearing
the
words ‘FIRE – OPERATIONS COMMANDER’
CREW COMMANDER
Role
An officer or firefighter tasked with supervising tasks or meeting
specific objectives utilising one or more firefighters.
