The brief initial report (BIR) is one of the most important aspects of any call to which you respond. It sets the tone of how the incident will play out; far too many times, inadequate BIRs are transmitted by the first-arriving unit. All officers and firefighters who ride the front right seat need to take the time to understand why a BIR needs to be transmitted and what information needs to be relayed to incoming units and the dispatchers in the 911 center.
The BIR is transmitted by the first-arriving unit and should paint a picture to all of the responding units or anyone listening of the conditions you have. The BIR should include some very important information such as the following: number of floors, type of occupancy, conditions found, water supply plan, name command, mode of operations, additional resources needed, and the address of the emergency site if it is different from that dispatched.
Many times I have heard the first-arriving unit go on location with the information that smoke is showing and say nothing else. What kind of a picture does this paint for you? For me, it does not give a very good picture of what is going on. It doesn’t tell you what kind of a building is involved, how many floors it has, what kind of an occupancy it is, what your water supply plan is, who is command, your mode of operations, or the additional resources needed. The only thing it says is that smoke is showing-but, again, from where?
Another example of a BIR would be the following: “En route to the call Engine 4 to Engine 3. We will be laying out from the corner of 1st street and 3rd Ave. Engine 4 on location with a two-story, single-family dwelling. Smoke is showing from the A and B sides second floor. Lieutenant 4 is passing command and initiating fire attack. Start the working fire dispatch.”
This example helps to paint a much better picture for the incoming units and allows them to be better prepared for what they will encounter once they arrive on location.
If you have chosen to become an officer in the career or volunteer fire service, you need to work to master your craft. One of the things that will help is to practice BIRs and become better at giving them. We conduct training with our crews on pulling hoselines, throwing ladders, and conducting searches to make sure we know they understand how to do the job and to become better at doing it, but have we taken the time to make ourselves better at the additional responsibilities we have as officers? We should spend time practicing our BIRs to make a good report second nature. When you are riding in to start your shift, pick a building and give a BIR for it. Think about buildings in your first-due area. Give a BIR for them. Say it out loud; do it over and over until you are confident you are good at giving a BIR. Once you get to this point, keep doing it. It will make you better and more relaxed. You will sound as if you know what you are doing. We all have heard someone yelling into the radio and thought, “What is wrong with that person? He doesn’t know what he is doing.” Practice so you don’t sound like that person.
Ronnie Carr
Lieutenant
Anne Arundel County (MD)
Fire Department
Chief
Rawlings (MD) Volunteer
Fire Department
Hotel Canfield article “interesting and informative”
I wish to compliment Chief Michael Kuk on his historical article “The Hotel Canfield Fire: Remarkable Life Net Rescues” (Fire Engineering, October 2016). It is interesting, and the excellent research presents lessons from which we all can still learn today. Although I am retired from the fire department and am now writing novels, I keep my certifications current and teach fire officer classes through various departments and institutions. I also work as a private contractor/trainer with the U.S. Army, teaching urban search and rescue. I use Fire Engineering often in my classes and tell all officers looking for the next promotion to read the magazine to stay abreast of current information and trends.
Patrick Kendrick
Author, Consultant
Division Chief of Training (Ret.)
Tamarac (FL) Fire Rescue
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