Rogue Valley Fire Prevention

Initial Attack & Beyond

Once on scene, the engine- or crew-boss (in either case, the IC, or incident commander) will evaluate the fire situation, brief his/her crew accordingly on fire status, potential dangers or unusual obstacles, etc., and then prepare a plan of attack to be implemented immediately.  Crew members will attempt to knock down encroaching flames, while constantly monitoring the unfolding situation for firefighter safety. 

photo: Andrea Booher

Engines and hand crews often find themselves working side-by-side.  In such a case, while the flames are being extinguished by engine crew members, hand crews will use hand-tools to construct a fire-line around the fire’s perimeter—preventing the flames from reaching further unburned fuels.  

Certain fire situations, especially those involving extreme fire behavior and large areas of burning, will call for more than a single crew or engine.  The Incident Commander (IC) (the person responsible for the management of all fire operations at the incident site) may call on additional resources, such as helicopters (mounted with buckets for water drops), air tanker planes, and heavy equipment (bulldozers, etc) to aid in the firefighting operations.  These additional resources will be in contact with the IC or other responsible contact, and may be used to aid ground crews in fire suppression.  Air tankers and helicopters may drop bucket loads of water or retardant on fire “hot spots” that threaten the crew or their mission objectives.  Bulldozers are often used to quickly and efficiently construct a wide, defensible line through rough terrain.

Sometimes, as evidenced in recent large wildfire seasons, a fire will not be suppressed totally in its early stages.  In this event, initial attack crews, which are utilized for only short periods during a fire’s earliest stages, will often be replaced with larger, more specialized hotshot crews.  These crews consist of 18-20 highly trained individuals who often spend an entire season hiking into fires, digging line, cutting trees and assisting in burnout operations on some of the most challenging fires.  On these large fire operations, self sustaining fire-camp “cities” are built up for crews and administrative personnel; the camps are complete with logistics stations, information officers and media personnel, showers, kitchens, sleeping areas, laundry services, etc.