National Wildfire Coordinating Group

RT-130, Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR)

Managing the Maze of Communications

RT-130 Decorative banner. Group of photos depicting wildland firefighters performing various duties.

Students should consider the complexity of communication systems - radio frequencies, repeaters, cell phones, texting, portables, mobiles, and any other technology currently available to firefighters. Students will be able to develop a communications management plan, considering span of control, and using the tools available to them.
Category: Operations
Core Component(s): Incident Reviews and Lessons Learned;
Human Factors, Communication and Decision Making
Estimated Delivery Time: 30 minutes; Video Length: 12:23

 

Intent

Recognize the complexity of communication systems that firefighters utilize. Understand the proper utilization of radio frequencies, repeaters, tones, and other technology available.

Facilitator Preparation

  • Review the video and module tools.
  • Consider additional activities and discussion questions pertinent to the location and agency.
  • Consider having handheld radios and local communication plans available for demonstrating proper usage.

Facilitating the Discussion

  • Show the video.
  • Facilitate a small or large group discussion using the discussion questions.

Discussion Questions

  1. Explain the difference between command and tactical frequencies.
  2. What is line of sight for radio transmissions?
  3. What is the purpose of a tone on radio frequencies?
  4. Describe an incident when a resource had manually programmed the incorrect radio frequency. How did this affect fireline operations?
  5. Mobile devices are not appropriate fireline communication tools for every situation.  When are they inappropriate?  When are they appropriate?

Resources

Additional Video Information

This video is also available as a download. (Size 39 MB)​
Download the .srt file for closed captioning (you may need to right click and Save As). For information on how to add closed captioning to a video, see this how to page.

Note: For Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, right click the word download and select Save Link As; for Internet Explorer (IE), right click and select Save Target As.

 

Print This WFSTAR Module

 

 

 

Page Last Modified / Reviewed: 
2023-04-06

Please Provide Feedback

NWCG values your constructive input and we thank you for taking the time to provide feedback.

Although contact information is optional, we hope that you provide a way for us to contact you in case we need clarification on your comment. If you would like to be contacted regarding your feedback, you must provide contact information. 

If you would like a response, you must provide contact information (name and email) below.

Due to recent hacking behavior, we are temporarily suspending our ability to upload documents.  If you need to attach additional information, please email the file to BLM_FA_NWCG_Webmaster@blm.gov.

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.