BY ANTHONY AVILLO
What thoughts influence the incident commander (IC) in considering additional alarm requests? The magnitude of the incident or the size of the building? Exposure issues? The weather? The number of responding personnel or lack thereof? Or is it something else: a gut feeling or experience?
It is all of these things and more. As an IC, it’s your job to ensure enough personnel are on scene to mitigate the incident safely. The best guide I can offer is this: If you think you will need additional alarms, you probably will, so you had better call for them early. Everybody wants to respond to a fire, and it’s better to be looking at your resources than looking for them. Let’s examine some considerations that help guide the decision to “ramp up the response.”
If you are a current subscriber,login hereto access this content.
If you would like to become a subscriber, please visit ushere.
