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your a captain in the xyz fire department.
During the middle of the day, 12:30-1:00, you hear you pager go off. u listen in and you hear firecom excited saying "firecom for the XYZ fire department, on the air with a house fire, ABC lane between ghj road and tet blvd. you relieze your close to you district, only in the next town and start racing to the fire house as you also turn you pager on to your lowband to hear whats going on. as you start to get closer u can see the smoke, the house is a couple of blocks to the right of your current location and the firehouse is about the same amount of blocks to the left, you hear your engine take off and you also relieze its rolling without an ranked "officer". you begin to relieze that you didnt hear a chief and you can pretty much guess who's going to be on that engine crew from prior experience. most likly its running short handed also. you do have an extra set of gear in your car as im sure most officers do, firecom lets the incoming engine know that hes getting multi calls on this so you think, "should i head to the scene or go to the fire house and get on the next company that gets out".
As an officer, should you go to the scene not because u dont want to miss the fire but you feel you need to be the OIC at the scene and do your part??
i'd like to see what you feel is the right choice
As an officer, you roll with your rig if it is not sig 21 yet. A Chief may then be on the road. When you arive at the scene and there are still no chiefs, the highest ranking line officer assumes command. That officer then will notify fire com to say I am the Captain or LT and I will be the command post.
When a job is transmitted, then everybody comes out of the woods. You may delegate your authority to an ex-chief and he may take over the command post.
you go to the scene and work with your crew. No brainer! And if you are the highest ranking officer and have to play chief then even better that you went to the scene. If not then you are still the OIC of the 1st line .
you go to the scene and work with your crew. No brainer! And if you are the highest ranking officer and have to play chief then even better that you went to the scene. If not then you are still the OIC of the 1st line .
Without a doubt go to the scene and help with manpower. In most cases an average size residential home with a room and contents fire, the bread and butter of most fires in Nassau Depts., can be handled with 1 Engine, or at least control the fire untill other units arrive, if the rig is there in a short time and has the manpower to get the line in play fast. Go to the scene. I would not want to chance standing around and maybe waiting another 3 or 4 minutes for a another crew to assemble, then also another 2 or 3 minutes to get to the scene and get to work.
In my opinion, this depends on a few things. Your experience level (your a captain, you should be experienced enough..), as you said, there are no chiefs on the road as well... Personally, I would go to the scene, let the dispatcher know your there AND place your PATag on the rig (accountability is #1) and go in. As you said, if the engine officer is inexperienced, it would be good for you to go and ensure the operation goes accordingly. Once on scene, however, I would let the boss of the 1st due engine run the show of his crew, that is how we gain that experience, by doing. Just overlook the operation, take command if necessary, but don't show up because you feel that you should be in charge all the time as a captain...one day that young man in the front seat may be a boss, and if your not goin to fires all the time, you should let them get the experience..as I said before though.. as the senior man (captain or not) make sure they are not making any crucial (or god forbid fatal) mistakes.
Be Safe
well to be honest i think you should continue into the firehouse depending on if your department is in one building.....if its broken down into seprate companys at seprate locations then by all means if your engine or truck got out then go to the fireground. it all depends on your department structure....... you should have faith that the truck pulled out with a knowlegeable person in the officers seat and at least a guy or two in the back to get the operation going....if its a job guys will be showing up to get on the next rig.....but like i says before it depends on your department.....my current department lets us just go straight to the scene in our povs so i dont have to face this problem......but in my former department it was a catch 22
Personally I believe that u should go to the Firehouse and get the next rig out. They r going to need man power and if a piece of apparatus is being held up waiting for one more guy and ur at the scene that is not going to get u that next rig out and not get u the extra manpower that u need. Besides ur daytime firefighters are most likely to be well seasoned so they are going to know what to do. SO either an ex officer will take command till u get there or the senior FF will. And by the time u arrive on scene u will take command or possibly a chief will be on the road by then and then they will take command.
Unless you just left the firehouse and know who was sticking around after you left, I can't see how you could possibly predict the crew. But anyway, some Depts do not respond as companies, so their point is go get the next rig out. In Depts that run as companies, I see no problem going to the scene and it sounds like your the Incident Commander!
I would not blink an eye and go to the scene.Can do a size up and advise the engine to lay a line in or what ever you guys on the island do.Up here we would lay in as to shortage of manpower and a strong hydrant system.Act as OIC this lets the guys on the engine go about thier jobs.
A few of you are going to the scene first ??? Your not a Chief..Your a Line Officer and you should respond in with your rig and the rest of your Company. As I said earlier in this thread, the highest ranking Line Officer will assume the Command Post IF there are no Chiefs at the scene.
Unless somehow your not going to make your rig, then you go directly to the scene.
i would go directly to the scene, do a proper size-up, inform the first due engine what size line to drop and the nearest hydrant. im sure that with that extra set of gear comes an extra radio..use it.....a lot of times you'll have an ex-officer on board....they were officers, they know just the same as you, use them to everyones benefit
but this all depends on how your department runs....
-if you run in companies then go directly to the scene
-if you run as a department get to the station and get on the next rig
Wutup has a very good point, if you have your cellphone, call the station and ascertain if theres manpower at the station, if theres manpower and no chauffer, go roll the rig, the fire will be there when you get there, if another truck or engine is on its way out the door, respond to the scene and assume command till your relieved.
whats the right choice?
