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English > Fighting Fires > Firefighters > Firefighter Safety
The topmost concern when fighting wildfires is the safety of the firefighters. To maintain a safe firefighting situation, firefighters have many guidelines and "things to watch out for", the most basic of which are:
Watch Out Situations (From Firewise.org):
- The fire is not scouted and sized up.
- You're in country not seen in daylight.
- Your safety zones and escape routes aren't identified.
- You're unfamiliar with weather and local factors influencing fire behavior.
- You're uninformed on strategy, tactics and hazards.
- Instructions and assignments are not clear.
- You have no communication link with crewmembers and supervisors.
- You're constructing a line without a safe anchor point.
- You're building a fireline downhill with fire below.
- You're attempting a frontal assault on the fire.
- There is unburned fuel between you and the fire.
- You cannot see the main fire, and you're not in contact with anyone who can.
- You're on a hillside where rolling material can ignite fuel below.
- The weather is getting hotter and drier.
- Wind increases and/or changes direction.
- You're getting frequent spot fires across the fire line.
- Terrain and fuels make escape to safety zones difficult.
- You feel like taking a nap near the fireline.
When firefighters are in any of the above situations, they take actions according to the F.I.R.E O.R.D.E.R.S (Also From Firewise.org):
- Fight fire aggressively, but provide for safety first.
This overall rule recognizes that fire fighting is an exceptionally hazardous occupation, and cautions us to remember that no resource or property is as valuable as a human life.
- Initiate all actions based on current and expected fire behavior.
Elements contributing to fire behavior include weather, topography and fuels. Keep your eye on the fire and try to anticipate how it might change given these three conditions. It could mean a lifesaving difference in where you decide to build the fire line and position anchor points, escape routes and safety zones.
- Recognize current weather conditions and obtain forecasts.
Again, it's important to be informed about three weather factors that affect the behavior of fire: wind, temperature and relative humidity. You can use any number of ways to stay informed about these factors, but the chief thing is to remember that weather can make a critical difference in your fire fighting strategy.
- Ensure instructions are given and understood.
If your supervisor is not clear and precise, demand and receive specific direction. Your life may depend on it.
- Obtain current information on fire status.
For example, where is the fire perimeter? Where is it moving? How fast is it moving? Are there spot fires between you and the perimeter?
- Remain in communication with crewmembers, your supervisor and adjoining forces. If your own observations don't provide the answers. get in touch with someone who can tell you.
They can provide critical information that could save your life.
- Determine safety zones and escape routes.
A safety zone is any area that is unlikely to burn - including ground already burned over, a wetland or lake, even a rockslide. The ways you get to it are your escape routes. They should be the fastest and easiest routes, cleared in advance.
- Establish lookouts in potentially hazardous situations.
Naturally your lookouts should be experienced, alert and reliable, able to recognize changes in the weather and dangerous fire conditions such as spotting. The purpose of the lookout is to keep you in touch with the fire when you're preoccupied with tasks that keep you from seeing and hearing it yourself.
- Retain control at all times.
That means assuring that instructions and assignments are understood... establishing and maintaining a communication link... and knowing the locations of all crewmembers at all times.
- Stay alert, keep calm, think clearly, and act decisively.
In short, think before you make a move, no matter how tired you feel- or how much adrenaline is pumping. This final fire order may seem the most obvious of all, until you experience the stress of a wildland fire. Heat exhaustion, fatigue, or panic may strike when you least expect it, even for a few critical moments. These things have happened to the best and most experienced of fire tighten and cost many of them their lives.
© ThinkQuest Team C0119184 :: Credits & Sources
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