Wildland Residents Association

Outline of a Fire Call

Fire calls for the mountain San Marcos Pass communities are dispatched by the county communications center in Goleta. Fire calls in Montecito are dispatched by Montecito Fire Protection District and may include the Santa Barbara city, Carpinteria-Summerland FPD or Santa Barbara county, depending on location.

For the San Marcos Pass community's calls for service, 911 information is received and then passed on the fire radio dispatcher who through the computer aided dispatch system dispatches the appropriate equipment to the call. Station 13 covers the south side of the hill and Station 32 covers the north side. Depending on the type of call, other equipment may be dispatched such as the truck from Station 11, Engine 15 from Mission Canyon, Engine 12 from Calle Real and the water tender from Station 18. Brush fire calls may include bulldozers and helicopter 308 or 309 from the Santa Ynez Airport depending on the location of the fire. A battalion chief may also be dispatched, depending on the call.

The Forest Service will also respond to calls. Brush fires may include Helicopter 528 from Santa Ynez as well as Engine 41 from San Marcos, Engine 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46 depending on the location. Battalion 41 and 42 are assigned to the area as is Division Chief 41 and Patrol 41. Air Attack 07 will also respond from the Santa Barbara airport.

WRA units respond automatically within their response area. They fall under the command of the chief officer having jurisdiction over the call. Structures and vehicle fires are under the supervision of the county; brush falls under the supervision of the Forest Service.

The first unit on the scene of a call assumes command and reports to the primary unit or chief officer. This report is called a "size up" that will include type of fire, size, conditions and equipment needed. Larger incidents will be given a name for identification. The chief officer or captain in command will refer to himself as the IC by the incident name such as "Highway IC."

Depending on the type of call, responding units will be assigned to a specific frequency. For county fires, the frequency generally will be 153.980, 153.905 or 154.265. For Forest Service calls the frequency will be 170.475. For larger incidents, other frequencies will be put to use over time.

For brush fires during fire season, the Air Attack aircraft serves as an overhead spotter and controller of responding aircraft. For county fires they will generally be on 151.220. For Forest Service fires they will be on 170.000. The dispatcher also gives a "victor" frequency. This is the AM air-to-air frequency used by the pilots as a type of intercom between each other. These frequencies vary but are generally 123.075, 122.225, 135.975, 118.950.

As a fire progresses, others get involved. Expanded is the logistics office for the county fire department, which takes care of ordering other resources and provide coordination. The Incident Commander, or IC, controls the call. Operations supervise the tactics and equipment. The Public Information Officer, or PIO, provides information to the press and public. The Safety Officer is responsible for making sure all safety procedures are followed. The "look out" is a type of safety position that watches over the fire for hazards that endanger firefighters such as spot fires and flare ups. There are many other positions in the ICS system for larger fires but these are the most common.

The command post is where the incident commander will be found. It can be the back of a SUV or in an office, fire station or some other location that is not within the incident. Everyone reports to the IC.

During large fires, firefighters may be assigned "divisions" to work in. This is a group of firefighters assigned a specific area on a fire. Frequently the division will be referred to as X, Y and Z one side and A, B and C on the other. The more people assigned and the larger the area, the more division that will be built. Each division will have a supervisor and a specific task that reports back to the IC.

This provides a very brief overview of the building of a fire incident. It is important to understand that the process is fluid and may change depending on conditions. However, most every incident begins in this format.