Lookouts Communications Escape Routes Safety Zones “LCES”

1. LookoutsCommunicationsEscape RoutesSafety Zones“LCES” By Les Litzenberger Franklin Co. FPD#3

2. Objectives Describe the role that LCES has in the Risk Management Process. Knowledge of the history behind LCES Describe the attributes of a good Lookout Define good Communications practices Describe the attributes of a good Escape Route Describe the attributes of a Safety Zone

3. Objectives Describe a procedure for recognizing escape routes and safety zones when engaging a fire. Given a set of fire line conditions, estimate minimum safety zone size Describe a protocol for negotiating an unsafe assignment. Define Decision Point and Levels of Engagement.

4. Click on box below for video The Father of LCESPaul Gleason

5. LOOKOUT ATTRIBUTES • Lookouts need to have one eye on the crew and their position in the fire environment and the other eye on the fire itself. • Lookouts need to have one eye on the crew and their position in the fire environment and the other eye on the fire itself. • Conscious of changes and how those changes can affect the crew • Over a large area or rough terrain a number of lookouts may be required • Very tuned into fire behavior and potential

6. Decision Points A pre-identified or anticipated event (time, place, or condition) that, when it occurs, initiates a pre-planned response. Hitting a Decision Point means pause, evaluate the situation, and make a decision. Ask yourself “What changing factor(s) can affect our mission success and safety today?” • Trends in weather? • Changes in fuel type and terrain? • Tactical progress? • Logistical support? • Decision points vary by Geographic area and fuel type. • What things should you do on a fire so you are able to identify valid trigger points?

7. Communications • Communications starts with a thorough Briefing • Communications is the vehicle which delivers the message to the firefighters, alerting of the approaching hazard • Frequencies must be coordinated via a Communications plan • Communications must be prompt and clear • Radios are limited and at some point the warning is delivered by word of mouth • Although more difficult, it is important to be timely and clear with your intentions when communication is by word of mouth.

8. Levels of engagement What do you do when a Decision Point is hit: • Validate continuing with full engagement of the fire…or • Implement your pre-planned response. • Contingency plan Plan B Stop advancing or pull back a short distance. • Buys time to re-assess. • Fireline can be improved. • Troops can regroup and catch a break. • Escape time can be shortened. • Allows for faster re-engagement.

9. Let’s hold up here. If the wind switches back, we’ll go after it again. Hold in Place Stop advancing or pull back a short distance. • Buys time to re-assess. • Fireline can be improved. • Troops can regroup and rest. • Escape time can be shortened. • Allows for faster re-engagement.

10. Change Tactics Disengage from the fire, change tactics, and re-engage the fire. • Line location can be improved. • Hazardous areas can be avoided. • Direct versus indirect line can be considered. • Negotiate changes within the chain of command. IRPG Orange page 17

11. Reverse tool order and move back to the safety zone now! Disengage & Retreat Move directly to a safety zone. • Immediate and full activation of all components in the LCES system. • Extreme situations may require crews to drop gear in order to move faster.

12. A Process to Use Observe the area Visualize fire spread Identify valid safety zones Time the escape Inform others Evaluate conditions

13. Escape Routes & Safety Zone Recognition We have been talking about decision-making: • When to engage the fire? • When to disengage? How do we recognize effective escape routes and safety zones so we can make those decisions? Adequately sized for all resources. IRPG green Pages 6 & 7

14. Observe Personally observe potential safety zones and escape routes in the work area. Step 1 – Situation Awareness of the Risk Management Process.

15. Visualize Build a mental picture of the fire behavior you would expect if conditions existed that would enable a crown fire to burn around your potential safety zone. • Anticipate flamelengths. • Anticipate convective influences. • Consider all resources needing to use safety zone.

16. Identify Compare the fire behavior you visualize with the size and location of potential safety zones you observe in order to identify any true safety zones available. Refer to the green page 7 in your IRPG for Safety Zone selection criteria.

17. Time Have the slowest team member time the route from the work location to the potential safety zone(s). Take fatigue and temperature factors. IRPG green page 6

18. Inform • Communicate the location and path of travel to those who work for and around you. • Flag or otherwise mark if the escape route or safety zone is not obvious taking into consideration visibility issues during night shift.

19. Evaluate You must continually evaluate your escape and safety plan to insure that it will still work. • Time of day and fire intensity changes. • Tactical progress and travel distance changes. • Continually evaluate the Risk Management Process IRPG green page 1.

20. Uphill Escape Routes Avoid steep uphill escape routes. Firefighter travel rates are significantly slower. Remember the smart firefighter knows that fire goes faster uphill and people go slower!

21. Adjusting LCES When safety margins shrink below 5 minutes, it should be considered a standard Decision Point. Conditions on fires seldom remain constant, you may need to adjust any or all parts of your LCES system several times during a shift to reflect changing conditions.

22. Safety Margin Your Safety Margin is simply the time you estimate it will take the fire to spread to your location….minus your known escape time. This number needs to be a positive number!

23. LookoutsEvery time CommunicationsEvery Time Escape RoutesEvery Time Safety ZonesEvery Time If they were not discussed during Briefing, They were not established!