How well did they follow NIMS as it relates to area command?
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) was made up of two incident management teams namely Type 1 and Type 2. The type 1 attacked the firestorm since it had been mandated to perform both the functional and operational duties. Over 600 firefighting officials were charged with the role of fighting the wild fires over large areas. They were supposed to harness safety issues, conduct and plan operational, fiscal and logistical matters.
This command team made sure that the areas under their mandate were fully covered. The type 1 command teams were also responsible for evacuating affected victims of fire. Community protection in spots that had not been affected by fire incidents was the major role of the Type II command teams. The latter comprised of firefighting experts of slightly less than five hundred officials. Hence, area command as related to NIMS was adequately followed.
How was the Joint Information center managed?
The Joint Information Center was positioned at the center of the Multi Agency Coordination Group. Its main roles included dispatching harmonious information to the public, general media control, and information management. The Joint Information Center also made it possible for various media houses to obtain the most updated and latest information regarding the rescue and firefighting processes.
The center was also supposed to make sure that the various teams attacking fire from different positions were well coordinated even though there were individual team leaders who were performing the larger part of this duty. In addition, the center was mandated with the role of managing vital information obtained from different agencies taking part in the process. In other words, it played an oversight role on all matters regarding the smooth flow of information. This explained why it worked with several agencies at the same time.
Was there public information program effective?
The public information program was effectively managed bearing in mind that a separate and specialized department referred to as the Joint Information Center was set up with the broad goal of managing information required by the members of the public.
The center was managed in such a way that there were public affairs officers working full time in receiving, harmonizing and eventually dispatching information to the media and members of the public. These full time working officers were drawn from emergency agencies within the county and the city. In addition, the wildfire experts and several technical officials were deployed at the information management center in order to assist in processing and dispatching latest news obtained from officers working on the ground.
Was there communication plan effective? Did it allow first responders to be updated on the incident?
The firefighters made use of radio communication in order to connect with the rest of the First Responders taking part in the process. At the beginning, the communication plan laid out by the firefighting teams was effective. The various teams were well armed with radio communication gadgets.
However, massive communication failure was later experienced due to the 800-MHZ radio systems that had been newly acquired. Even though these radio gadgets could be used for communication, they were not compatible with those used by the federal agencies located at the state level. Lack of compatibility meant that the First Responders could not communicate with the federal state officers attached to various emergency departments.
This challenge caused serious lack of effective communication among officials operating the fire engines, ground and air units as well as command and tactical units. Therefore, this communication difficulty did not allow the First Responders to be updated on the progress of the fire incidence. However, the situation was resolved by group leaders who opted to organize their teams through face-to-face meetings instead of relying on the dysfunctional radio gadgets.
What types of supporting technologies were used in the incident?
The firefighting teams alongside the First Responders used quite a number of supporting technologies during the entre firestorm incidence. For instance, firefighting engines loaded with powerful pressure pipes filled with water were deployed on various fire fronts.
These engines were physically manned on the ground although they were keenly coordinated to focus on areas where they could access. The firefighting engines were mostly instrumental in putting off fire within residential areas. Secondly, aerial survey of the affected spots was made possible using high speed aircrafts.
These aircrafts were used to monitor the progress of the fire incidents across various locations within the forest. Evacuation and rescue procedures as well as quick aerial transport of the affected victims were rapidly facilitated using the aircrafts. These aircrafts were loaded with modern cameras. Finally, radio communication was also employed during the entire process even though major hitches were reported as a result of poor compatibility of the gadgets.
Which of the key national planning scenarios would this fall under?
This scenario should fall under the planning operations that are usually undertaken by the Federal Management Agency Department. This is the division of the federal government charged with emergency planning across the country. Budgetary allocations and disbursements on all emergency situations are carried out by this department.