Tactics, command, leadership

while in Närby and Fjärrby there are only
part time personnel.
Petersson is the fire chief and has held this
position for several years. He has considerable
experience of urban areas and a comprehen-
sive basic as well as complemented education
and training. Olsson, who has also worked
in the municipality several years, is one of
his assistants. Olsson is on standby at home
every forth week, and is on standby just now.
When Petersson or Olsson are not on duty or
not available, Andersson is responsible and
has a number of commanders to assist him,
one of whom is Johansson.
Andersson says curtly to Johansson, ‘I
want you to take 101 and 103 with you to
Storgatan 68, and quickly, for once. There is
the smell of smoke coming from the ground
floor of the department store. Join me at the
entrance.’
‘Does he always have to speak to me like
this?’ Johansson says to himself as he goes
out to 101.^3
In the meantime Andersson proceeds
directly through the ironmongery section of
the store, a distance of some 30 metres, and
opens a fire door to the stores for the paint
section. A wall of smoke and heat comes
at him, and he quickly closes the door and
rushes back to the entrance and Storgatan.
He is aware that there is already a fully deve-
loped fire in the paint store.^4 Once out of the
building he calls for reinforcements by 102,
104 and Olsson in car 106. The square is the
meeting point. It is now almost 05.30 and
the fire has been burning for just over half an
hour. Pumping appliance 101 with Anders-

(^3) The relationships between personnel
in a fire brigade crew can be funda
mental to how work at an incident -
site progresses. Offensive command or
a commander who has a poor rela
tionship with response personnel will -
often make things more difficult or
result in it taking longer for allocated
tasks to be executed. The quality of a
fire brigade’s work is often reflected
in the quality of leadership and how
it functions. A commander should be
very aware of how he or she addresses
subordinate personnel.
(^4) What risks should a commander
subject him or herself or their person

-

nel to? Is it reasonable that the highest

commander at an incident site exposes

him or herself to the greatest risks?

Are the risks taken worthwhile in

relation to the possible consequences

of them? In some situations a com

-

mander can gain invaluable first hand

information through taking risks.

son, Johansson and three firefighters, and a

ladder appliance with one firefighter are now

at the incident site on Storgatan.

At the same time as the fire gains strength

in the paint store, it spreads via a pipe ope-

ning to the paint section on the floor above.

There is an entrance to the department store

on Drottninggatan on the other side of the

building, but none of the crew is aware of

Drottning-

gatan

Office

Sales

Sales, paint

Stores

Sales, water & sanitation/gardening

Office

Court-yard Court-yard

Sales, ironmongers

Stores Stores

Storgatan