DO YOU REALLY KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIRE TACTICS AND STRATEGY OR ARE THEY JUST WORDS YOU USE TO SOUND SMART?

FIREFIGHTING STRATEGY

What is strategy? At rookie battalion chief’s school we were taught, |locate, confine and extinguish.| That is a
good firefighting strategy, but after 25 years as an incident commanderin the FDNY, I believe there is more to firefighting strategy than locate, confine and extinguish. It is a good start, but there’s more.

I also found out there is not much written about strategy. When you google the word strategy you get military strategy. In the fire service there is a lot written about tactics, but not strategy.

FIREFIGHTING TACTICS:

One reason there is much written about tactics is they are tasks
and procedures that are fixed, unchanging and constantly carried out in the same way. This helps define and pin them down for writing and documentation. Tactics are carried out exactly the same way at each
fire; they don’t vary. We raise ladders, climb ladders, stretch hose, vent windows, cut roofs, force entry, tie knots, use radio communications the same way and do not want firefighters to vary the way they are done. In the fire service written and documented tactics came first in the 1960s, with firefighters and fire officers writing standard operating procedures.

FIREFIGHTING STRATEGIES:

Firefighting strategies came later, after tactics were written. In fact, strategies are based on groups of tactics. Whereas a tactic is a task or procedure and carried out the same way each time, Strategies are plans that vary, must be flexible and can change during a fire operation.

Strategies are plans on how to use personnel, apparatus and equipment at fires. Strategies are more difficult to document because they may change during a fire and there must be alternatives strategies to use.

For example, after an explosion or collapse, an offensive strategy changes to a defensive strategy.

When you choose a strategy or plan to fight a fire, there must always be an alternative ready. The objectives may be the same — life safety,fire extinguishment and property protection, but how you accomplish this can change. In fact, it may change several times at a fire. An offensive attack can become a defensive attack, and then be changed back to an offensive attack. This is rare, but it happens. A strategy or plan’s flexibility, alternatives and changing nature is a reason there are more written fire tactics than fire strategies. Only recently books on strategy have been published.

WAR STRATEGY AND FIREFIGHTING STRATEGY

Firefighting can be considered war. Military and the fire service learn from each other. Wars end, fire is a the war that never ends. We use each other’s strategy lessons.

U.S. generals call a book written by a 6th century BC Chinese general Sun Tzu the bible of war strategy. In The Art of War, he wrote, If you know the enemy, and know yourself you can win a war. Firefighters constantly must know their enemy, fire, and their building battlespace to win their war.

A 15th century philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli, wrote in his book, The Prince, A prince should have no other aim or thought but war. This is extreme, but firefighters too must constantly think about firefighting tactics, apparatus and equipment to win their war.

An 18th century Prussian military strategist, Carl Von Clausewitz, wrote in Principles of War, for victory, go into battle with overwhelming strength. We respond with three engines, one ladder, four firefighter staffing, five and six in high hazard areas. Big cities like FDNY send initial high rise response assignments of 15 to 20 fire companies as Clausewitz recommends.

The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff declare no single strategy can guarantee victory over and opponent. So as the generals recommend, the fire service has a flexible strategy plan to defeat our enemy, fire, and each step has an alternative strategy. Incident commanders train for offensive and defensive firefighting and know how and when to use each strategy. One strategy is not superior to the other. We use them both in the war against fire.

Strategy of generals and strategy of fire service commanders describes plans to use personnel, apparatus and equipment to win a war. The book, Battlespace Combat, is a fire service strategy book showing 20 detailed strategy plans how to use personnel, apparatus and equipment to battle fire.

The following is the firefighting strategy plan used every day in our battlespace. This 11-point strategy system is a how to procedure of firefighting steps. It is an expanded version of locate, confine and extinguish.

Each strategy action has an alternative strategy, as the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have declared — no single strategy can guarantee victory.

The book Battle Space Combat, and this system of firefighting strategy is designed to help the incident commander make good decisions.

A System of Firefighting Strategy

1. locate fire

2. conduct life saving evacuations

3. prevent the fire spread

4. confine fire

5. ventilate fire

6. extinguish fire

7. conduct searches

8. perform salvage

9. overhaul fire

10. prevent rekindle fire

11. secure the fire building (not in sequence )