Fire leaders work to instill the Five Communications Responsibilities in the culture of all crews, teams, and units. These responsibilities are not just tactical tools but apply to the staff and management environment.

In high risk environments, the best level of protection against errors and accidents is effective team communication. Therefore, everyone—regardless of position—has an obligation to communicate critical information.

Fire leaders build cohesive teams—not simply groups of individuals putting forth individual efforts—to accomplish missions in high-risk environments.

Cohesive teams are more creative and adaptable when dealing with complex situations. This enables them to detect and mitigate errors before irreparable damage occurs. Cohesion allows team members to anticipate the needs and actions of other team members. This increases efficiency and saves time.

Leaders in the wildland fire service are not only empowered but also duty-bound to act on a situation that is within their power to affect, even without direction from above.

This empowerment is not intended to encourage freelancing. In a high-risk environment, freelancing is a dangerous and unpredictable element, causing more harm than good. Ultimately, leaders are always accountable for their actions.

The success of a firefighter’s mission depends upon the crew’s ability to alter behavior and dynamically manage resources to meet situational demands. 

Adaptability/flexibility allows firefighters to alter a course of action based on new information, maintain constructive behavior under pressure and adapt to internal (body) and external (e.g., fire behavior, new assignment and crew experience levels) changes that occur on the fire ground.

Looking out for our people includes not only those who work for us but also our leaders and peers. Leadership is about influencing others to accomplish tasks that are in the best interest of our organization, which often means influencing those above us (leading up). Similarly, we are open to upward leadership and, in fact, encourage and reward it.

Fire leaders are expected to lead in many directions, an expectation that increases complexity and risk.

In fast-moving, dynamic situations, top-level decision-makers cannot always incorporate new information into a formal planning process and redirect people to action within a reasonable timeframe.

We provide leader’s intent so people closest to the scene of action can adapt plans and exercise initiative to accomplish the objective when unanticipated opportunities arise or when the original plan no longer suffices.

Consider the following questions when you have a helicopter with a bucket working in your area:

• Is the helicopter a Type 1?

What the SAFECOM system is:

The Aviation Safety Communiqué (SAFECOM) AMD-34/FS-5700-14 should be used to report any condition, observation, act, maintenance problem, or circumstance with personnel or the aircraft that has the potential to cause an aviation-related mishap. SAFECOMS are a tool used to identify, document, track, and correct safety-related issues.

Retardant (jell, foam), paracargo, and water drops on a fire are routine events. However, there are risks associated with these missions that can pose serious threats to personnel and equipment. Consider the following for all drops you are coordinating:

Certain helicopter missions push the limits of the aircraft’s performance capabilities. Items that could reduce the effectiveness and increase the risk of the mission include weight, temperature, altitude, and visibility. Below are some points to remember when evaluating missions.