Ch. 1: Introduction to the Fire Officer Flashcards
The NFPA 1021 standard defines four levels of fire officer.
Fire Officer I, II, III, & IV.
Which level of Fire Officer is the first step in a progressive sequence and is generally associated with an officer supervising a single fire company or apparatus?
Fire Officer I
Which level of Fire Officer generally refers to the senior non-chief officer level in a larger fire department and can be the overall supervisor of a multiple-unit fire station?
Fire Officer II
Which level of Fire Officer generally refer to chief officer positions that might work as a battalion or district chief in a large and possibly as a deputy or assistant chief in a smaller organization?
Fire Officer III
Which level of Fire Officer tend to be fire chiefs or hold senior positions in charge of a major component of the fire department?
Fire Officer IV
Who is responsible for being a leader and supervisor to a crew of firefighters, managing a budget for the station, understanding the response district, knowing departmental operational procedures, and being able to manage an incident?
A Fire Officer
Where does the foundation of company officer practice come from?
World War II combat experience
What classification is bestowed upon an individual who supervises a single fire suppression unit or a small administrative group within a fire department?
Fire Officer I
How did the US fire service originate?
As communities of citizens who responded when a fire broke out.
Although four forms of staffing fire department organizations are commonly used, most discussions divide firefighters into which two categories?
Career and volunteer.
Who adopted the formal rank structure of the Roman military, which is an organizational model that is still used by most fire departments?
Corps of Vigiles - fire protectors
What event significantly affected the development of both the fire service and fire codes?
Two major fires in 1871 - The Great Chicago Fire and The Peshtigo firestorm.
Where was the first fire regulations in North America established when it banned wood chimneys and thatched roofs?
1630 - Boston, MA
Who developed the first fire hydrants in 1817?
George Smith - FF in NYC
Who developed the first municipal water systems?
The Romans
Which national organization writes today’s model codes and standards?
NFPA
What is the final result called when volunteer committees of citizens and representatives of businesses, insurance companies, and government agencies explore and develop proposals that are debated and reviewed by various groups?
consensus documents
Who is accountable to the leader of the governing body, such as the city council, the county commission, the mayor, or the city manager?
The head of the FD - Fire Chief
What does the organizational structure of a fire department consists of?
a chain of command
What creates a structure for managing the department as well as for directing fire-ground operations?
The chain of command
Who is responsible for a single fire company on a single shift?
A supervising officer
Who is directly responsible for supervising a fire company on one shift, coordinating all of the company’s activities with all other shifts and could also be in charge of all of the companies on one shift in a multiunit fire station?
A managing fire officer
What is used to implement department rules, policies, and procedures?
The chain of command
Which organizational structure enables a FD to determine the most efficient and effective way to fulfill its mission and to communicate this information to all members of the department?
The chain of command
What four management principles are most fire departments structured on the basis of?
1) Unity of Command
2) Span of Control
3) Division of Labor
4) Discipline
What is the management concept that each fire fighter answers to only one supervisor, and each supervisor answers to only one boss?
Unity of Command
What refers to the maximum number of personnel or activities that can be effectively controlled by one individual?
Span of control. (usually 3 - 7) [Most experts believe should extend no more that 5]
What is a way of organizing an incident by breaking down the overall strategy into smaller tasks?
Division of Labor
What is used when the specific assignment of a task to an individual makes that person responsible for completing the task and prevents duplication of job assignments?
Division of Labor
What encompasses behavioral requirements, such as always following orders from superior officers and performing up to expectations?
discipline
What is the set of guidelines that a department establishes for firefighters?
discipline
What are the four functions of managements?
Planning, Leading, Organizing, Controlling [PLOC]
The four functions of managements were originally identified by:
Henry Fayol
What is developing a scheme, program, or method that is worked out beforehand to accomplish an objective?
Planning
What includes establishing goals and objectives and then developing a way to meet and evaluate those goals and objectives?
planning
What means putting resources together into an orderly, functional, structured whole?
organizing
What means guiding or directing in a course of action?
leading
What is a complex process of influencing others to accomplish a task?
the act of leadership
What is the human side of managing that includes motivating, training, guiding, and directing employees?
leading
What means restraining, regulating, governing, counteracting, or overpowering?
controlling
What are fire officers implementing when they consider the impact on the budget before making purchases, when they conduct employee performance appraisals, and when they ensure compliance with departmental policies?
the controlling function
The four functions of management [PLOC] constitute a continuous cycle;
the are never truly “finished.”
What are developed by various government or government-authorized organizations to implement a law that has been passed by a government body?
Rules and regulations
What are developed to provide definite guidelines for present and future actions?
policies
What are written organizational directives that establish or prescribe specific operational or administrative methods to be followed routinely for the performance of designated operations or actions?
SOPs
What are ethical choices based on?
the value system
What is the key to improving ethical choices?
To have clear organizational values.
What is unity of command?
The concept that firefighters answer to only one supervisor
_________ means “putting resources together into an orderly, functional, structured whole.”
Organizing
“Selecting employees who share the values of the organization” describes __________.
ethics
IAFC identifies the Fire Ofc. II as a Managing Fire Officer.
Administrative part as:
- Evaluate subordinates job performance
- Correcting unacceptable behavior
- Completing performance appraisal
- Project development
- Divisional Budget
- Purchasing
- Rewarding bids & solicitation
- News releases Prepping
- Reporting to supervisors
IAFC identifies the Fire Ofc. II as a Managing Fire Officer. Nonemergency part as:
- Conducting inspections
- Fire code violations
- Reviewing injury & exposure reports
- Identifying unsafe work environments & behavior
- Actions to prevent repeated accidents, injury or exposure
- Pre-incident planning
- Developing Policies & Procedures
- Analyzing reports and data for problems, trends, etc.
IAFC identifies the Fire Ofc. II as a Managing Fire Officer. Emergency part as:
- Incident Command System (ICS) use in multi-unit incident.
- Operational planning & deployment
- Determining area of Origin & Preliminary cause
- Post incident analysis
Written organizational directives that establish or prescribe specific operations or administrative methods to be followed routinely for the performance of the designated operations or actions
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Directives developed by various government/-authorized organizations to implement a law that has been passed by a governmental body. They don’t leave any room for latitude or discretion.
Rules and Regulations
Term suggest that a specific step-by-step procedure that should be followed, but allows for deviation.
Standard Operating Guideline (SOG)
Fire Officer Principles and Practice book meets the criteria outlined for which NFPA?
NFPA 1021 Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications for level I & II of the 4 levels
What is the Fire Officer I generally associated with?
Supervision of a single fire company or apparatus
What is the Fire Officer II generally associated with?
Generally refers to the senior non-chief, and could be overall supervisor of multiple-unit station.
What is the Fire Officer III & IV generally associated with?
Generally refers to the senior chief officer positions.
The foundation of company officer practice came from?
World War II combat experience
What does IAFC call the Fire Officer I
Supervising Fire Officer
What part of management is responsible for the conduct of others?
The officer is the part of management responsible for the conduct of others.
What part of the family does the Officer play?
The Officer plays the role of the parent.
Where did the U.S. Fire Service originate?
The U.S. Fire Service originated as communities of citizens who responded when a fire broke out
What is the term “paid on call”
Some departments provide an incentive for fire fighters by paying them for each response, termed “paid on call” or part-time paid personnel.
How many forms of staffing used for Fire Departments
- Four forms of staffing fire department
- The main 2 used are career & volunteer.
What percent of the calls are fires?
5% of the calls involve actual fires.
2/3 are EMS calls.
The Private Industry & non-governmental organizations are the other 2 forms of staffing fire departments. Many are established to handle which fire state/situation?
Incipient fire situations
Who created what was probably the first fire department?
n 24 B.C. Augustus Ceaser created what was called “The Familia Publica”, composing of 600 slaves stationed around the city to fight fires.
Who were the Corps of Vigiles?
In 60 A.D. the emperor Nero establish this group of 7k free men to fight fire, fire prevention and building inspections. The formal rank structure adopted by them from the Roman military is still used today.
The first documented Fire in North America occurred when and in what town?
In Jamestown, Virginia on 1607 the first fire, it almost burned down the entire settlement
What North American city in 1630, banned the wood chimney and thatched roofs, establishing the first fire regulation.
Boston, Massachusetts was the first to establish fire regulations.
What year did buckets give way to hand-powered pumpers?
In 1720, Richard Newsman developed it in London.
When did the Steam-powered pumpers begin to replace hand powered pumpers?
By 1829 the Steam-powered pumpers started to take over hand ones.
Who developed the first municipal water system?
The Romans developed the first municipal water system.
In 1817, George Smith developed the first hydrant, in what city?
George Smith developed hydrants in New York City.
What city built the first fire towers?
Charleston, South Carolina built them to warn the citizens by ringing the community fire bell or church bells.
To symbolize the rank of chief also signifies his need to do what?
The rank of chief also signifies the chief’s need to communicate clearly by the Chief’s trumpet or bugle.
What has served as an impetus for communities to establish building codes?
Fires have served as an impetus for communities to establish building codes.
Who’s in the front lines of ensuring fire codes are obeyed?
Fire officers are often on the front lines of ensuring that the fire codes are obeyed.
What does the officer need to know about built-in fire protections systems?
The officer must understand built-in fire protection systems & recognize how they affect firefighting ops.
