Reducing Fireground Variables

I remember my first night as fire company officer. I had the NFPA certifications, scored high on the promotional list and just finished two years teaching at the Academy, where I participated in a dozen recruit school live fire burn events. My mind was racing with all of the fire suppression possibilities. I felt the weight of my sacred duty to protect my crew while we do righteous work. What is my primary goal as the engine boss on a structure fire?

Nozzle Forward founder Aaron Fields, presenting “Drilling for Function“ at the 2018 Art of Firemanship Days (Harrisburg, PA), points out that rookies consider thousands of variables when looking at a fire incident, while a veteran sees just two or three. I think that also applies to new fire officers

Fields advocates teaching from principle so the rookie understands the goal of the activity. This helps to make the activity and sequence of tasks make sense as the rookie starts to connect the dots.

Experienced fire officers have connected the dots. Last week we looked at the Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model of rapid decision making. Doctor Gary Klien described their research into urban fireground commanders:

The fireground commanders’ accounts of their decision making do
 not fit into a decision-tree framework. The fireground commanders 
argued that they were not “making choices,” “considering alternatives,” or “assessing probabilities.” They saw themselves as acting and
 reacting on the basis of prior experience; they were generating, monitoring, and modifying plans to meet the needs of the situations. We
found no evidence for extensive option generation.

Rarely did the fire
ground commanders contrast even two options. We could see no way in
 which the concept of optimal choice might be applied. Moreover, it
 appeared that a search for an optimal choice could stall the fireground
 commanders long enough to lose control of the operation altogether.
 The fireground commanders were more interested in finding actions
 that were workable, timely, and cost-effective.

How do you get from a brand new fire officer with a head full of unconnected dots, well practiced in the art of completing promotional checksheets, to a competent unit supervisor?

Focus on your team

Battalion Chief James O. Page identified three unit leader roles: Supervisor, Commander, and Trainer. Your obligation is to train your team to become confident and competent firefighters. As the officer, you set the expectations.

Battalion Chief Jason Hoevelmann says that the best way to identify your fire company needs is to drill and run evolutions. This includes your involvement in the drill or evolution. You are building your team.

Aaron Fields describes the Fitts and Posner model he uses in the “How We Drill” section of Drilling for Function:

Cognitive phase – Identification and development of the component parts of the skill – involves the formation of a mental picture of the skill.

Associative phase – Linking the component parts into a smooth action – involves practicing the skill and using feedback to perfect the skill.

Autonomous phase – Developing the learned skill so that it becomes automatic – involves little or no conscious thought or attention whilst performing the skill – not all performers reach this stage.

The learning of physical skills requires the relevant movements to be assembled, component by component, using feedback to shape and polish them into a smooth action. Rehearsal of the skill must be done regularly and correctly.

I was still fretting at 1 am. I remembered what Chief Edward McAniff (FDNY retired) said at a promotional preparation seminar, echoing what he wrote in Strategic Concepts in Firefighting. “The goal of the first arriving engine is to advance an attack line and gain control of the interior stairs.” THAT was my primary goal. My big red dot for the first night as boss.

Our department moved into assessment centers for promotional exams. Our IAFF local hired McAniff Associates to deliver a preparation class. The seminar was great, but many of us suffered a short-term memory loss as this cadre of 60-something FDNY chiefs drank most of us 20-somethings under the table during the after-class debriefing.

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Fields, Aaron (2012 March 16) “Drilling for Function“ Fire Service Warrior. Accessed 5/23/2018

Klein, Gary A.; Orasanu, J.; Calderwood, R. and Zsambok, C. E. (1993) Decision Making in Action: Models and Methods. Norwood NJ: Ablex

Page, James O. (1973) Effective Company Command. Alhambra CA: Borden Publishing.

Hoevelmann, Jason (2018) The New Company Officer. Tulsa, OK: Fire Engineering Books and Videos.

Fitts, Paul Morris, and Posner, Michael I. (1979) Human Performance. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

McAniff, Edward P.; Cunningham, John J. (editor)  (1974) Strategic Concepts in Fire Fighting. Bayside, NY: McAniff Associates.

I have provided two ancient fire service references this week. Chiefs Page and McAniff were old school versions of the instructors that teach at conferences today. They self-published textbooks and went on the road with paper handouts and chalk.

Page was promoted to battalion chief in the Los Angeles County Fire Department, finished the manuscript for Effective Company Command, and licensed as an attorney by the California State Bar within the same year.

McAniff retired as FDNY Chief of Department in 1964. He established a consulting company that did a robust business with promotional exam preparation. He wrote three additional books covering different aspects of the fire department promotional process. Fire Engineering reprinted Strategic Concepts in Fire Fighting in 1983.