Fireground glossary
Plain-English definitions of the words a fire department runs on, and the feature that uses each one, from 360 to working fire.
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Plain-English definitions of the words a fire department runs on, and the feature that uses each one, from 360 to working fire.
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Fire departments run on a shared vocabulary, and most of it is never written down for the people who need it most: the new member, the officer stepping into a training role, the dispatcher, the town board. This glossary defines the terms you will hear on the fireground and in the after-action review afterward. Where a term means different things in different regions, both are given.
A walk around all four sides of the building by the first-arriving officer or the incident commander, before or as crews go to work, to see what the front does not show: the rear, the basement, the exposures, where the fire actually is. The time it takes to complete the 360 is one of the standard fireground benchmarks.
The system for knowing where every firefighter is at all times: which crew, which assignment, which side of the building. Tags, passports, boards, or software, depending on the department. Accountability is what makes a PAR possible.
A structured, blameless discussion held soon after an incident to compare what was planned with what happened, and to decide what to keep and what to change. Distinct from the hot wash, which happens on scene. See the guide to running one.
The four sides of a building, labeled clockwise starting from the address side: Alpha is the front, Bravo the left as you face it, Charlie the rear, Delta the right. Used so "the second line is on Charlie" means the same thing to every crew regardless of where they parked.
The vehicles. In most departments the working set is the engine (pump, hose and a water tank; the fire attack piece), the truck or ladder (aerial ladder, ground ladders, forcible entry and ventilation tools; often no pump), the quint (a single piece that does both), the rescue (specialized tools and often the RIT crew), the tanker (called a tender in the western U.S. and under NIMS; hauls water where there are no hydrants), the medic or ambulance, the hazmat unit, and the chief's vehicle (battalion, district, assistant or deputy chief) from which command is usually run.
The hoseline stretched to put water on the fire. Usually 1¾-inch in residential fires; 2½-inch for larger fires or long stretches. The first attack line's placement is the single most consequential decision on most fires.
A second hoseline stretched behind the attack line to protect the attack crew and to take over if the first line fails or the fire outgrows it. Its presence and timing are a standard tactic checked in review.
A milestone in the incident that command announces over the radio and that the department measures itself against: on scene, water on the fire, water supply established, primary search complete, ventilation complete, under control, fire out. Benchmarks are how a department knows whether its performance is improving.
The dispatch center's system. It records the call, the units assigned, and the time stamps for each unit's status changes (dispatched, en route, on scene, available). CAD times are the backbone of any incident timeline.
The area around a building, generally at least one and a half times its height, where nobody stands and nothing parks while collapse is possible. Marked on the fireground and, in review, on the map.
The person in charge of the incident, responsible for strategy, assignments and safety, usually the first-arriving officer until a chief arrives and formally takes command. "Command" on the radio is the IC.
A crew and its apparatus, working as one unit under a company officer: Engine 3, Truck 1, Rescue 2. The basic building block of a fireground assignment.
What the fire is doing: light smoke, heavy smoke, visible fire, and where each is showing. Conditions change over the incident and are the first thing reported on arrival ("two-story wood frame, heavy smoke showing from the Charlie side").
The two strategies. Offensive: crews go inside to search and to put the fire out from within. Defensive: crews stay outside and protect exposures because the building is not worth the risk or cannot be entered safely. Changing from one to the other is a command decision announced to everyone.
The center that receives the call and assigns units, and the moment the call goes out. Dispatch time is where the clock starts for response-time measurement.
ICS terms for splitting the incident into manageable pieces. A division is geographic (Division Charlie, Division 2 for the second floor); a group is functional (Search Group, Ventilation Group). Each has a supervisor who reports to command.
A building or object that the fire could spread to: the house six feet off the Bravo side, the garage, the vehicle in the driveway. Protecting exposures is a tactical priority, and on some fires it is the whole strategy.
Fire that has spread beyond the room or area of origin into walls, ceilings, attics or adjoining spaces. Checking for extension is why crews open walls after the main body of fire is out.
The scene of a working fire and everything happening on it. "Fireground operations" means the tactical work, as opposed to dispatch, command staff work, or what happens back at the station.
The company expected to arrive first at an address, based on district lines. The first-due officer typically gives the size-up and takes initial command.
A drawing of a building's interior layout by floor: rooms, stairs, doors, windows. Pre-incident floor plans come from pre-plans; post-incident ones are reconstructed for review so crew movement can be shown relative to the fire.
The short, informal debrief held on scene or on the tailboard before leaving. Valuable and immediate, but based on adrenaline and incomplete facts. The AAR is its scheduled follow-up.
Any hose stretched and charged for use. Attack line, backup line, supply line, exposure line; "line" alone almost always means the attack line.
The water source in a hydranted district. First-due engines either lay a supply line from the hydrant on the way in (forward lay) or have a second engine bring water to them (reverse lay).
The standardized structure for managing an incident: one commander, a manageable span of control, common terminology, and functional positions (operations, safety, accountability) that expand as the incident grows. NIMS is the national framework ICS sits inside.
A rating (1 to 10, 1 best) of a community's fire protection by the Insurance Services Office, used by insurers to set premiums. It scores the department, the water supply, dispatch and community risk reduction.
The point at which the main body of fire is controlled by the attack line and is no longer growing, even if it is not fully extinguished. Often announced as "we have knockdown" or "fire is knocked down."
Supply hose, usually 4- or 5-inch, used to move large volumes of water from a hydrant or tanker to the engine. Not a nozzle line.
The radio call a firefighter makes when lost, trapped, injured or out of air. Every other transmission stops; the RIT deploys. A mayday is always reviewed, always with the audio, and always without blame.
Help from neighboring departments, by agreement, when an incident exceeds what one department can handle. Automatic aid is mutual aid that is dispatched on the initial alarm rather than requested later.
The end of the attack line where the water comes out, and by extension the firefighter on it ("who was on the nozzle?"). Nozzle position at each moment is one of the facts a review tries to pin down.
The work after the fire is out: opening walls and ceilings, pulling insulation, checking for hidden fire so it does not rekindle. Slow, unglamorous, and where a lot of injuries happen.
A roll call, by radio, in which every company officer confirms all of their people are accounted for. Taken at set intervals, at any change of strategy, and immediately after a mayday or a collapse.
Information about a building gathered before a fire: layout, construction, hazards, hydrants, utilities, occupants. The best pre-plans are built from real visits and get pulled up on the way to the call.
The first, fast search of the building for occupants, done while the fire is still being fought. Speed over thoroughness. Completing it is a benchmark. The secondary search is the slower, thorough search after the fire is controlled.
Rebuilding what happened on an incident, in order, from the record: radio audio, CAD times, apparatus positions, photos, crew movements. The foundation of a useful review.
Playing a reconstructed incident back in time, with the map, the crews and the conditions changing in sync with the radio traffic. Replay lets a crew watch the call rather than argue about it.
The rapid intervention team (also rapid intervention crew, or firefighter assist and search team in some regions): a crew standing by outside, fully equipped, with the sole job of rescuing firefighters who call a mayday. Required on any interior fire attack.
Protecting the occupant's property from water and smoke damage during and after the fire: covering furniture, moving contents, controlling water. Paired with overhaul as the closing tactics.
The first-arriving officer's assessment of the incident, given over the radio: building type and size, what is showing, the strategy, and the initial assignments. Continues throughout the incident as conditions change.
Where arriving units wait until command assigns them. Level 1 staging is a block or so out on the initial alarm; Level 2 is a formal area for a large or multi-alarm incident.
Strategy is the overall plan (offensive or defensive, life safety first, protect exposures). Tactics are the specific actions that carry it out (stretch a line to the seat of the fire, vent the roof, search the second floor). A review looks at both: was the strategy right, and did the tactics execute it?
The act of pulling a hoseline from the engine to the point of attack. "A long stretch" is a hoseline that has to travel far, which is why line selection and the time to stretch are reviewed.
The hose and the source that keep the engine's tank from running dry: a hydrant, a tanker shuttle, a drafting site. "Water supply established" is a benchmark because until it is, the attack is running on the tank.
The officer responsible for the department's training program: drills, certifications, and, in departments that do them well, turning after-action reviews into the next month's drills.
Command's announcement that the fire is no longer spreading and the strategy is working. Not the same as fire out. The time to "under control" is one of the most commonly reported benchmarks.
Shutting off the gas and electric to the building, one of the first support tasks on any structure fire and easy to forget under pressure.
Removing heat, smoke and gases from the building, by opening the roof (vertical), windows and doors (horizontal), or with fans (positive pressure). Done at the wrong time or place, ventilation feeds the fire; done right, it makes the interior survivable. Its timing relative to the attack line is a classic review topic.
The moment the attack line begins flowing water on the fire. Along with time on scene, the benchmark most departments track first.
A fire that will require the full first-alarm assignment to work, as opposed to a food-on-the-stove or a false alarm. Declaring a working fire over the radio often triggers additional units and notifications.