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14 February 2025
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Featured FRI Magazine article: Fire department company operations officer – what it takes to be a success by Colin Deiner
A good company officer must lead by example, never expecting his/her staff to do things he/she would not do
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It is important that you maintain an acceptable level of physical
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Spending quality training time with your crew will produce incredible benefits that will have major advantages for a long time
https://www.frimedia.org/uploads/1/2/2/7/122743954/fri_vol_3_no_2.pdf
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Fire department company operations officer – what it takes to be a success written by Colin Deiner, chief director, Disaster Management and Fire Brigade Services, Western Cape Government (FRI Vol 3 no 2). We will be sharing more technical/research/tactical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Fire department company operations officer – what it takes to be a success
By Colin Deiner, Chief Director, Disaster Management and Fire Brigade Services, Western Cape Government
So you have tried your best to impress your senior management, passed the necessary qualification exams and done virtually every course available to you. Your labours have resulted in you being promoted to the rank of company officer. You now have a shift to command and the responsibility of millions of Rands worth of equipment and vehicles to use to their maximum abilities. How well will you do it, will you command respect from your subordinates? Are you going to be trusted by those who report to you and those who you report to?
I will try to offer some advice to officers or potential officers. As I have mentioned on many occasions in this column, this not an empirical statement of fact. It is merely an opinion and therefore you are free to use it and hopefully gain some sort of value from it. Or….you can disagree, in which case I would love to hear from you.
The basics
Your interpersonal skills, experience, knowledge and trustworthiness are all very important (and we will get to this later), however, before anyone can think of promoting someone into this position they must ensure that the following skills/knowledge base are in place from the get-go:
Leadership
I have always been of the opinion that great leaders a born and not made. It is, however, so that leaders need to be identified and their skills nurtured to the point where they can utilise their talent to the best advantage of their service.
The challenge here is a little more difficult in the fire/rescue environment as you have to blend this talent for leadership with a sound knowledge and experience of the wide range of components that make up the fire service. It can’t be done overnight!!!
A good company officer must lead by example, never expecting his/her staff to do things he/she would not do. Work on your skill sets and inspire confidence in your staff by demonstrating a high level of technical skills. This will give fire fighters the confidence to follow you into any hazardous situations you may encounter and inspire them to improve themselves in an effort to emulate your efforts. If this happens, acknowledge the efforts of your staff, even if it surpasses yours.
Remember that you will not always be the fittest, brightest and bravest fire fighter around and as you get older you will experience a diminishing ability. It is still very important that you maintain an acceptable level of physical fitness to serve as an example to your staff. It is very difficult for a young fire fighter to be inspired to extra-ordinary physical heights if his/her orders are coming from an unfit, overweight and out-of-breath officer.
Different people will react to criticism or praise in different ways. Some might respond well to a good telling off while others might react negatively and it may take a long time to win their trust again. Get to know each one of your staff members and how they are motivated. The incident scene is a different environment to the station house. During a high risk incident the stress levels of all responders might be high and the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ might not be heard very often. It is vitally important that all orders are given in a clear and audible manner and that no one is in any doubt as to what is expected of them. Also don’t ask someone to do something that they have not been trained to do and are not familiar with.
A major cause of frustration presents itself when responders don’t carry out orders correctly, show a lack of ability to do a certain task or are just plain sloppy. We are always told that you should not yell at anyone on a fire ground but rather deal with them in a calm manner and gently correct their mistake. A raging structural fire, victims screaming to be rescued on the upper floors, problems with your water supply and your nozzle-crew doesn’t know how to enter the structure properly. Calm?.......I don’t think so! When you have lost your cool during an incident you will need to revisit the incident at a later stage. Explaining to the victims of your abuse as to what the reason for your unhappiness was and how you expected them to perform. Give them a chance to respond and explain why they did (or didn’t do) the particular deed and what their reasoning was. It will also not always be necessary to apologise (this will off course be dependent on the level of abuse and the specific members of their families you decided to give them your opinion of).
An important quality to acquire is to be a good listener. If a staff member considers a matter important enough to bring to you, you should give it your highest priority. Try not to be distracted while listening to the matter. Leave your emails for later and put your cell phone on silent when doing this. Being a good listener shows your personnel that you honestly care about them is probably one of the most important things you can do to instil trust and respect in your team.
Debriefing
There are generally two types of debrief you can have with your crew. The first would be a critical incident stress (CIS) debrief when you have dealt with a particularly disturbing incident that might have a prolonged effect on some of your staff. The second is a technical debrief where you review the incident and your activities.
A peer debrief is considered by many experienced responders as the best way to deal with the after effects of a disturbing incident. People are more open to discussing their feelings with their colleagues who know what it was like and experienced the same events as they did. Outside professionals are sometimes seen as ‘intruders’ into a very personal space and ‘weren’t there’. This is okay and has been found to be so for a very long time. The only rider here is that the person leading the debrief (you, the officer) should at least have some training in how to conduct it and how to recognise the warning signs of a serious condition. It is then that the services of a professional must be brought in.
The incident debrief must be held as soon after the event as possible. The best time to do this would be at the incident site immediately after the ‘all clear’ has been given and before the equipment making up process starts. The reason for this is that it allows the incident commander to point out things that cannot be disputed later. “Joe, why did you pitch the ladder there?” or “Pete, why did you shore the trench corner like that?” are questions that can be asked while everyone is present and able to see what you are getting at. Personnel will need respond immediately to these points and not have the luxury of the drive back to the station to dream up any excuses.
You can also use the debrief onsite to point out things such as vehicle placement, safety issues such as damaged overhead power lines, collapse zones and certain structural features.
After a multi-agency incident it might be necessary to participate in a larger debrief, which could deal with a bigger, more strategic picture. Here you will be required to represent your sector of operations. Be ready to honestly and succinctly respond to any criticism you or your service may receive. Also indicate where you felt things were not working and could be improved. Being nice and neglecting certain important points for ‘political reasons’ won’t correct the problem and you could find yourself facing it again during future operations.
Always remember that your main objective is to improve your fire fighter/rescuer and any criticism should be positive and indeed to build the confidence of the person. If you do have to raise a number of negative issues related to poor performance always try to end on a positive note.
Communication
Emergency services and public safety directorates are large organisations with many branches and levels of management. Junior personnel are not generally involved in decision making at senior level and are seldom called upon to interact with the head of department. How many times have you heard an old colleague say “In my day the only time you saw the chief was when you did something great (which never happened), or if you were in big trouble”. For the most this hasn’t changed much. When you are representing your staff at an officers or management meeting, make sure you provide accurate feedback to them on issues that may affect them or that should be passed on to them. Rumours generally start due to a lack of accurate information. Ineffective communication doesn’t only hurt your staff but your entire service.
As an officer honesty is most definitely the best policy. As officers leading your people into dangerous situations you will want them to trust you and not second-guess or question any of your instructions. If they are not convinced of your honesty, you will have a hard time convincing them to accept a risk to their safety during a challenging incident.
Training
The average operational fire fighter will attend a few months of rookie school after which they might attend a range of elective training courses such as an engineers (pump-operators) course, various technical rescue courses, hazmat technician level training and any other ad hoc training presented from time to time by outside agencies and private organisations. If they undergo their rookie training at the same department they are employed in, they will develop an understanding of the vehicles and equipment used by the department and receive their training within the doctrines of their employer.
This is a great advantage to the company officer who inherits the rookie and it is generally not all that difficult to get them up to speed within the company they are assigned to.
Technology does however change. A lot of the equipment you used in your first few years has been modified almost beyond recognition. The department might decide on a different strategy for freeway hazardous materials response that might differ from what was taught in an initial hazmat awareness course. The responsibility for adapting personnel to these changes will generally fall to the company officer. This will require you to stay up to date with the latest technology and fire fighting/rescue strategies and be in a position to transfer this knowledge if it is of benefit to your department.
Fire fighting and rescue relies most of all on teamwork. During many vehicle extrication challenges I have judged and attended it has been the teams who have worked together as a team who have been the most successful. The recent FIFA World Cup in Brazil had many teams with great players (Argentina had Messi, Portugal had Ronaldo) but ultimately the cup was won by the country that best played together as a team, Germany. Teamwork is essential for success. You will have to establish the team and exercise it continuously until you reach perfection. Again, as in sport, a team is made up of a number of members who each play a specific role in their quest for victory. Some of the tasks are more glamorous and others less so. Players need to understand that the less glamorous tasks also have to be done. Your skill will be to identify the people that are best suited to the different tasks and have them understand it and how it fits into the bigger picture.
The limit of the driver/operator’s glamour is when they drive that 14-metre, 550hp red monster through traffic. In doing this job, they must have a clear understanding of everything that is happening in the engine, gearbox and drivetrain behind and underneath them from the moment they turn the key (or press the button) to start the truck until they turn in on the incident. The same should happen when they stop the vehicle and engage the pump power take off (PTO) or raise the aerial ladder.
Spending quality training time with your crew will produce incredible benefits that will have major advantages for a long time. Quiet times on shift are perfect opportunities to get out the high angle kit and practice knot tying or building raising systems. Get your crew to tie the knots in the dark. Exercise other ‘bread-and-butter’ operations such as working with ground ladders and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) drills.
Cold, rainy days can be spent debating tactics for a specific risk in your response area. Where are the hydrants located? Where can we optimally position our units? Best routes of entry into the structure, etc.
Most importantly, train with your staff. Again, this is about gaining your team’s respect.
Incident command
The company officer is responsible for leading the personnel under his/her command at all times. He/she will have to evaluate the situation they are in continuously and direct their activities according to the prevailing conditions.
Fire fighter safety is always the prime consideration. For you to be successful as an incident commander you must keep yourself motivated, educated and up with new trends, management and leadership skills and equipment.
It is very important that every person on your team is completely up to date with your department’s incident command system (ICS) and standard operating procedures (SOPs). You will frequently find that when speaking to junior staff members that they are of the impression that the ICS is a load of documents that are only there for the officers. If they are not trained and kept up to date with these procedures they will not understand their specific role in the system, which will make it impossible for them to perform their role adequately.
The six priorities for a company operations officer are:
The behaviour of your staff must always be reflective of the reputation of a fire fighter/rescuer and the department as a whole. Remember that that you are dealing with an incident that will have a profound and often devastating effect on the people in affected. It is not acceptable for a group of fire fighters to be high-fiving each other on the front lawn of a residential fire when a family is standing close by watching their entire existence go up in smoke.
I have often experienced the kind of gallows humour that accompanies a gruesome incident. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with it as it provides a coping mechanism for those involved. It must, however, happen at the right time and place. In addition to this, having a good sense of humour is one of the best qualities you can develop. People have in the past scorned humour in their jobs as it is ‘too serious’ to be laughed at. Many hilarious situations happen on the fire ground or at a rescue scene. The internet has many websites focussing purely on fire service humour, it is part of our heritage. As you go about our day with a healthy dose of humour, always take into account who we are sharing our space with and how they will react to it.
Conclusions
So what makes a good operational officer? I have up to now shared a number of thoughts. A lot of these can be good bits of advice to use or at least ponder. Others are qualities that could take years to develop. Being a good company operations officer cannot be fast-tracked. It takes years, hard work, dedication and perspective to finally get you into what I believe is the best job in the world.
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Fire department company operations officer – what it takes to be a success written by Colin Deiner, chief director, Disaster Management and Fire Brigade Services, Western Cape Government (FRI Vol 3 no 2). We will be sharing more technical/research/tactical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Fire department company operations officer – what it takes to be a success
By Colin Deiner, Chief Director, Disaster Management and Fire Brigade Services, Western Cape Government
So you have tried your best to impress your senior management, passed the necessary qualification exams and done virtually every course available to you. Your labours have resulted in you being promoted to the rank of company officer. You now have a shift to command and the responsibility of millions of Rands worth of equipment and vehicles to use to their maximum abilities. How well will you do it, will you command respect from your subordinates? Are you going to be trusted by those who report to you and those who you report to?
I will try to offer some advice to officers or potential officers. As I have mentioned on many occasions in this column, this not an empirical statement of fact. It is merely an opinion and therefore you are free to use it and hopefully gain some sort of value from it. Or….you can disagree, in which case I would love to hear from you.
The basics
Your interpersonal skills, experience, knowledge and trustworthiness are all very important (and we will get to this later), however, before anyone can think of promoting someone into this position they must ensure that the following skills/knowledge base are in place from the get-go:
- A thorough knowledge of departmental policies and procedures and how they affect your position and responsibilities.
- Be well versed in the role and legal authority of your employer (municipality, industry) and how you should act within these parameters.
- Experienced in all aspects of fire ground safety and fire fighter survival. As first line officer it is you who will commit forces into the initial attack and to ensure their safety and survival throughout the incident.
- Understand the basic fundamentals of human resource management. This relates to disciplinary actions, grievance procedures, salary issues, leave allocation and other department specific issues such as transport allowances. You will from time to time be asked by your staff to assist with a human resource related issue and how you handle it could reflect your level of caring for and responsibility shown to your staff.
- Be able to make a quick and accurate appraisal of the incident you are attending and make positive decisions. Offensive or defensive attack. Rapid or prolonged extrication.
- Have a working knowledge of current trends in building construction, as well as construction practices from yester years.
- Be familiar with fire service and occupational health and safety legislation and national standards.
- Know how to do fire inspections, which will assist in detecting non-compliance issues and violations that will allow you to take it up with building occupants or your own fire safety law enforcement services.
- Know how to conduct a fire education and awareness programme for various age groups. Your station will be called on to host school groups from time to time, which are an ideal opportunity to get the fire and life safety message across.
- Have a solid training background as you will eventually be providing more training to your crews than your department’s training school.
- Have a thorough knowledge of your department’s communication systems and its interoperability with the systems utilised by the other services you work with.
- Have an acceptable administration and IT skill set. Report writing is a fact of our daily existence and as a middle manager you will be relied on to do a lot of this.
Leadership
I have always been of the opinion that great leaders a born and not made. It is, however, so that leaders need to be identified and their skills nurtured to the point where they can utilise their talent to the best advantage of their service.
The challenge here is a little more difficult in the fire/rescue environment as you have to blend this talent for leadership with a sound knowledge and experience of the wide range of components that make up the fire service. It can’t be done overnight!!!
A good company officer must lead by example, never expecting his/her staff to do things he/she would not do. Work on your skill sets and inspire confidence in your staff by demonstrating a high level of technical skills. This will give fire fighters the confidence to follow you into any hazardous situations you may encounter and inspire them to improve themselves in an effort to emulate your efforts. If this happens, acknowledge the efforts of your staff, even if it surpasses yours.
Remember that you will not always be the fittest, brightest and bravest fire fighter around and as you get older you will experience a diminishing ability. It is still very important that you maintain an acceptable level of physical fitness to serve as an example to your staff. It is very difficult for a young fire fighter to be inspired to extra-ordinary physical heights if his/her orders are coming from an unfit, overweight and out-of-breath officer.
Different people will react to criticism or praise in different ways. Some might respond well to a good telling off while others might react negatively and it may take a long time to win their trust again. Get to know each one of your staff members and how they are motivated. The incident scene is a different environment to the station house. During a high risk incident the stress levels of all responders might be high and the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ might not be heard very often. It is vitally important that all orders are given in a clear and audible manner and that no one is in any doubt as to what is expected of them. Also don’t ask someone to do something that they have not been trained to do and are not familiar with.
A major cause of frustration presents itself when responders don’t carry out orders correctly, show a lack of ability to do a certain task or are just plain sloppy. We are always told that you should not yell at anyone on a fire ground but rather deal with them in a calm manner and gently correct their mistake. A raging structural fire, victims screaming to be rescued on the upper floors, problems with your water supply and your nozzle-crew doesn’t know how to enter the structure properly. Calm?.......I don’t think so! When you have lost your cool during an incident you will need to revisit the incident at a later stage. Explaining to the victims of your abuse as to what the reason for your unhappiness was and how you expected them to perform. Give them a chance to respond and explain why they did (or didn’t do) the particular deed and what their reasoning was. It will also not always be necessary to apologise (this will off course be dependent on the level of abuse and the specific members of their families you decided to give them your opinion of).
An important quality to acquire is to be a good listener. If a staff member considers a matter important enough to bring to you, you should give it your highest priority. Try not to be distracted while listening to the matter. Leave your emails for later and put your cell phone on silent when doing this. Being a good listener shows your personnel that you honestly care about them is probably one of the most important things you can do to instil trust and respect in your team.
Debriefing
There are generally two types of debrief you can have with your crew. The first would be a critical incident stress (CIS) debrief when you have dealt with a particularly disturbing incident that might have a prolonged effect on some of your staff. The second is a technical debrief where you review the incident and your activities.
A peer debrief is considered by many experienced responders as the best way to deal with the after effects of a disturbing incident. People are more open to discussing their feelings with their colleagues who know what it was like and experienced the same events as they did. Outside professionals are sometimes seen as ‘intruders’ into a very personal space and ‘weren’t there’. This is okay and has been found to be so for a very long time. The only rider here is that the person leading the debrief (you, the officer) should at least have some training in how to conduct it and how to recognise the warning signs of a serious condition. It is then that the services of a professional must be brought in.
The incident debrief must be held as soon after the event as possible. The best time to do this would be at the incident site immediately after the ‘all clear’ has been given and before the equipment making up process starts. The reason for this is that it allows the incident commander to point out things that cannot be disputed later. “Joe, why did you pitch the ladder there?” or “Pete, why did you shore the trench corner like that?” are questions that can be asked while everyone is present and able to see what you are getting at. Personnel will need respond immediately to these points and not have the luxury of the drive back to the station to dream up any excuses.
You can also use the debrief onsite to point out things such as vehicle placement, safety issues such as damaged overhead power lines, collapse zones and certain structural features.
After a multi-agency incident it might be necessary to participate in a larger debrief, which could deal with a bigger, more strategic picture. Here you will be required to represent your sector of operations. Be ready to honestly and succinctly respond to any criticism you or your service may receive. Also indicate where you felt things were not working and could be improved. Being nice and neglecting certain important points for ‘political reasons’ won’t correct the problem and you could find yourself facing it again during future operations.
Always remember that your main objective is to improve your fire fighter/rescuer and any criticism should be positive and indeed to build the confidence of the person. If you do have to raise a number of negative issues related to poor performance always try to end on a positive note.
Communication
Emergency services and public safety directorates are large organisations with many branches and levels of management. Junior personnel are not generally involved in decision making at senior level and are seldom called upon to interact with the head of department. How many times have you heard an old colleague say “In my day the only time you saw the chief was when you did something great (which never happened), or if you were in big trouble”. For the most this hasn’t changed much. When you are representing your staff at an officers or management meeting, make sure you provide accurate feedback to them on issues that may affect them or that should be passed on to them. Rumours generally start due to a lack of accurate information. Ineffective communication doesn’t only hurt your staff but your entire service.
As an officer honesty is most definitely the best policy. As officers leading your people into dangerous situations you will want them to trust you and not second-guess or question any of your instructions. If they are not convinced of your honesty, you will have a hard time convincing them to accept a risk to their safety during a challenging incident.
Training
The average operational fire fighter will attend a few months of rookie school after which they might attend a range of elective training courses such as an engineers (pump-operators) course, various technical rescue courses, hazmat technician level training and any other ad hoc training presented from time to time by outside agencies and private organisations. If they undergo their rookie training at the same department they are employed in, they will develop an understanding of the vehicles and equipment used by the department and receive their training within the doctrines of their employer.
This is a great advantage to the company officer who inherits the rookie and it is generally not all that difficult to get them up to speed within the company they are assigned to.
Technology does however change. A lot of the equipment you used in your first few years has been modified almost beyond recognition. The department might decide on a different strategy for freeway hazardous materials response that might differ from what was taught in an initial hazmat awareness course. The responsibility for adapting personnel to these changes will generally fall to the company officer. This will require you to stay up to date with the latest technology and fire fighting/rescue strategies and be in a position to transfer this knowledge if it is of benefit to your department.
Fire fighting and rescue relies most of all on teamwork. During many vehicle extrication challenges I have judged and attended it has been the teams who have worked together as a team who have been the most successful. The recent FIFA World Cup in Brazil had many teams with great players (Argentina had Messi, Portugal had Ronaldo) but ultimately the cup was won by the country that best played together as a team, Germany. Teamwork is essential for success. You will have to establish the team and exercise it continuously until you reach perfection. Again, as in sport, a team is made up of a number of members who each play a specific role in their quest for victory. Some of the tasks are more glamorous and others less so. Players need to understand that the less glamorous tasks also have to be done. Your skill will be to identify the people that are best suited to the different tasks and have them understand it and how it fits into the bigger picture.
The limit of the driver/operator’s glamour is when they drive that 14-metre, 550hp red monster through traffic. In doing this job, they must have a clear understanding of everything that is happening in the engine, gearbox and drivetrain behind and underneath them from the moment they turn the key (or press the button) to start the truck until they turn in on the incident. The same should happen when they stop the vehicle and engage the pump power take off (PTO) or raise the aerial ladder.
Spending quality training time with your crew will produce incredible benefits that will have major advantages for a long time. Quiet times on shift are perfect opportunities to get out the high angle kit and practice knot tying or building raising systems. Get your crew to tie the knots in the dark. Exercise other ‘bread-and-butter’ operations such as working with ground ladders and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) drills.
Cold, rainy days can be spent debating tactics for a specific risk in your response area. Where are the hydrants located? Where can we optimally position our units? Best routes of entry into the structure, etc.
Most importantly, train with your staff. Again, this is about gaining your team’s respect.
Incident command
The company officer is responsible for leading the personnel under his/her command at all times. He/she will have to evaluate the situation they are in continuously and direct their activities according to the prevailing conditions.
Fire fighter safety is always the prime consideration. For you to be successful as an incident commander you must keep yourself motivated, educated and up with new trends, management and leadership skills and equipment.
It is very important that every person on your team is completely up to date with your department’s incident command system (ICS) and standard operating procedures (SOPs). You will frequently find that when speaking to junior staff members that they are of the impression that the ICS is a load of documents that are only there for the officers. If they are not trained and kept up to date with these procedures they will not understand their specific role in the system, which will make it impossible for them to perform their role adequately.
The six priorities for a company operations officer are:
- Your personal safety
- The safety of your crew
- Public life safety
- Incident stabilisation (successfully managing the incident)
- Minimising property damage
- Protection and caring for your equipment and vehicles (even on-scene)
The behaviour of your staff must always be reflective of the reputation of a fire fighter/rescuer and the department as a whole. Remember that that you are dealing with an incident that will have a profound and often devastating effect on the people in affected. It is not acceptable for a group of fire fighters to be high-fiving each other on the front lawn of a residential fire when a family is standing close by watching their entire existence go up in smoke.
I have often experienced the kind of gallows humour that accompanies a gruesome incident. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with it as it provides a coping mechanism for those involved. It must, however, happen at the right time and place. In addition to this, having a good sense of humour is one of the best qualities you can develop. People have in the past scorned humour in their jobs as it is ‘too serious’ to be laughed at. Many hilarious situations happen on the fire ground or at a rescue scene. The internet has many websites focussing purely on fire service humour, it is part of our heritage. As you go about our day with a healthy dose of humour, always take into account who we are sharing our space with and how they will react to it.
Conclusions
So what makes a good operational officer? I have up to now shared a number of thoughts. A lot of these can be good bits of advice to use or at least ponder. Others are qualities that could take years to develop. Being a good company operations officer cannot be fast-tracked. It takes years, hard work, dedication and perspective to finally get you into what I believe is the best job in the world.