Extinguishing wildfires – the issue of coordination

Abstract

The tragic events of 2017 with regard to wildfires raised again the issue of coordination. The accusation of failings in the coordination of large wildfires is made frequently. An officially approved command and control system is used to organize extinguishing resources. At each stage of the operation, this system determines who is responsible for coordination, starting with the first team to arrive on site, until the most advanced stage of the incident is reached. This is a complex system which requires good leadership, because of both the range of resources involved and the media impact of such operations. What steps can be taken to improve the coordination issue?