Thinking Like an Incident Commander
By Thomas Dunne
The chief or incident commander (IC) is expected to devise a strategy, assign the necessary tactics, and monitor that strategy until the incident has been successfully concluded. Since most fire personnel are primarily involved in hands-on tactical work, it can be tempting to leave the big strategic decisions to the “person in charge.” In a typical career path, firefighters will master increasingly difficult technical skills as they perform physical tasks over and over at various fire operations. This “hands-on” perspective is reinforced by the fact that most firefighter recruit school training involves the development of physical skills rather than encouraging the ability to view a fire from a strategic point of view.
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