How We Fight Fire - Initial Attack Fire Cycle

The Initial Attack Fire Cycle explains the steps that are involved for a firefighting crew to assess a fire situation and complete the tasks needed to sustain and put out a fire.

During the fire season, Ontario fire ranger crews are assigned a daily “alert status” of blue, yellow or red. This status depends on the weather predictions and predicted fire behaviour for the day. When the overall fire alert status is on “red”, it means the FireRanger crew or crews will be dispatched within five minutes of receiving the report of a fire. Once the first crew is dispatched, the next crew on the list becomes the first crew out on the next dispatch. In instances when fire hazard is extreme and fire behaviour is erratic, multiple crews can be dispatched from several locations when a fire is reported.

Forest fires are found and reported in a number of ways. These include observing and reporting from aerial detection aircraft flying patrols looking for fires; from commercial aircraft that may come across fires as they fly their routes, and most importantly from the general public by telephone. Members of the public can report forest fires by calling the forest fire reporting line or by calling directly to their local Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) fire management headquarters. These reports are called incidents until they are confirmed to be a forest fire by the MNR. When an incident has been reported, a FireRanger crew from the nearest MNR headquarters is dispatched to the scene.

Generally fire crews are dispatched to a fire by helicopter, but can also be transported by truck.

This allows for quick response times and allows fire crews to attack fires not easily accessible by road. Before taking off, the Incident Commander is given the district fire number, map coordinates, bearing, as well as any information about the fire such as values in the area and whether other resources have been dispatched to the fire. Each fire crew is equipped with sufficient suppression equipment to attack a fire using the “one strike” concept (movement of personnel and equipment to the fire in one trip) as well as personal gear in the event that they need to overnight at the fire. 

Incident Commanders use topographic maps, global positioning systems (GPS) and on the scene observation to determine the location and route to the reported fire. While travelling to the fire, the Incident Commander spends time gathering information, getting organized, navigating, and scanning for any other fires or aircraft in the area.

The Incident Commander maintains contact with the fire management headquarters providing a report of the aircraft’s position every 30 minutes as part of a safety flight watch system. They also transmit an intelligence report to the Sector Response Officer at the fire management headquarters including the fire’s estimated size, the colour of the smoke column which indicates how intensively the fire is burning and whether there is a likely need for additional or fewer resources. Ten miles from the fire, the Incident Commander makes sure any Air Attack already on the scene know they are arriving and continues to gather information about the fire as they approach.

When the helicopter arrives at a fire, the Incident Commander confirms the fire location, confirms if water bombers or other critical resources are required and advises the Sector Response Officer to standby for the scouting report.

The initial attack scouting report is an assessment of fire size and intensity, rate and direction of spread, spotting and spread potential, fuel type, values in the area impacted by the fire, topography, access routes, pumping distance and probable cause of the fire (e.g. lightning). The IC also develops an action plan, including tactics, resource requirements, and problems anticipated, safety routes and time objectives. Once the scouting report is complete, the information is transmitted back to the FMH.

When the aerial assessment of the fire is complete, the Incident Commander directs the helicopter pilot to land at an advantageous location so the crew can unload suppression gear and begin fire suppression activities. If landing close to the fire is not possible because of hazards such as dead trees or rocks, the helicopter will hover as close as possible to the ground and the designated chainsaw person will do what is called a “hover exit” then proceed to clear a safe landing area. Often the only area available for the crew to exit is a swamp. In instances such as this, the helicopter has to hover as the crew exits and unloads their gear onto very wet and spongy terrain.

Not under control (NUC)

When a FireRanger crew arrives at a fire, the fire is designated as “not under control” (NUC). During this stage the Incident Commander briefs the crew about the plan of attack and escape routes to get to safety zones (safe areas where fire will not burn e.g. rocky outcrop, river, lake). Any information gathered at the scene is recorded in a fire diary and is used to complete the fire report after the fire is out.

In a four person FireRanger crew, two Crew Members begin to lay hose to the fire edge while the remaining Crew Member sets up the pump as quickly and securely as possible in order to get water up the line in a timely manner. The crew works methodically together using knowledge and skill to lay hose around the fire, applying water to burning and unburned fuels until the fire is prevented from spreading further.

A fire is “being held” (BHE) when no further spread is anticipated, given the current conditions. Once the fire is deemed “being held”, the fire crew continues to work slowly inward applying water, breaking apart burning fuels and extinguishing “hot spots” using water and hand tools. The Incident Commander informs the fire management headquarters when the fire is in a state of “being held”.

Under Control (UCO)

A fire is “under control” (UCO) when it is determined that there will be no further spread of the fire. This can be minutes after arrival, but often is hours or even days depending on the complexity of the fire. Generally the larger the fire, the longer it takes to become UCO. The Incident Commander advises the fire management headquarters when the fire is under control; estimates when the fire will be “out”; and when pick up will be required.

Mop Up

Once a fire is “under control”, the priority is to ensure the fire is completely extinguished. This entails the fire being walked over and checked extensively for any remaining hot spots or “smokes”. Aerial thermal infra-red scans are used to detect areas within the fire perimeter that are still burning. FireRangers use this information along with a method called “cold-trailing” that uses sight, smell and touch to make sure that any remaining smokes are extinguished. This stage of the fire uses hand tools such as shovels, axes, pulaski’s and back-pack water pumps to open up hot areas, separate the fuels and cool them down until they are out.

Out

The fire is called “out” when all smokes or hot spots are completely extinguished and the fire has no chance of restarting. Once this is done, the FireRanger crew begins field retrieval of equipment, cleans up any garbage on the fire such as flagging tape and hose boxes, and leave the area in the same condition as they found it when they began the initial attack. This “light on the land” approach is practiced on all fires whenever possible. When their work is done they await their transport back to the fire base.

Debriefing/Retrieval

A lot of work awaits the fire crew on their return to base before they are ready to respond to another initial attack. The Incident Commander debriefs the crew to determine where improvements could be made during the next initial attack and completes a fire report including the fire investigation, cost estimate and map. This information is stored in the Ontario fire archives database for future analysis.

The Incident Commander supervises the crew while they retrieve the used suppression equipment before completing other administrative duties. Retrieval includes cleaning, repairing and testing the fire equipment used on the fire line so that it meets operating standards. When retrieval duty is finished, a new initial attack unit is signed out from the warehouse and the crew gets ready for the next dispatch.