The National Wildfire Coordinating Group is considering doing away with the Fireline Handbook (FH), or at least that is one of the options mentioned in an email sent out by the NWCG’s Operations and Workforce Development Committee. Here is an excerpt:
The Operations & Workforce Development Committee (OWDC) is in the process of revising the Fireline Handbook, and is seeking your input.
Over time, the purpose of the Fireline Handbook has changed a great deal. Since the advent of the Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG), the Fireline Handbook’s use has changed dramatically. It is no longer the fireline reference for firefighters and has become more of a standards guide for incident overhead.
As a result, the OWDC is seeking wide input on the future of the Fireline Handbook. We are considering whether or not it needs to continue, what its future purpose should be, and a change in the name of the document.
They are conducting a survey of FH users to obtain input about the future of the publication and suggestions for changes.
I dug out my copy, and noticing the March, 2004 date on the cover, I went to the NWCG publications site to find out what the latest version was. I was stunned to see that 2004 was the last time it was revised. (You can download the entire handbook in a .pdf file at the site.)
The FH is not the easiest thing to carry around, weighing in at almost a pound (15 ounces) and it barely fits into a pants pocket. It has 430 pages, without the optional Fire Behavior Appendix. The number of pages could be reduced by 20-40% if it were reformatted with smaller margins, and without all the “white space” and blank lines between listed items. Most of the publication is devoted to checklists and how-to guides for overhead personnel and is not very useful for ground-pounders or most Operations section personnel.
The Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG) (download a .pdf of the 2010 version) has become far more valuable to Operations personnel on the fireline than the FH. It has most if not all of the safety and operations check lists, plus many items that are not included in the FH. And it is updated annually. The IRPG is more useful for Operations personnel out on the ground or the fireline. It is designed for a shirt pocket, has 110 pages, and only weighs 2.5 ounces.
Both publications are useful, but my suggestion would be to keep the IRPG the way it is, but modify the FH to remove the duplication which is also in the IRPG. And reformat it as described above, with both changes reducing the number of pages by about half.
The name should be changed to remove the association with the fireline, since it is primarily, and will be even more so, for overhead personnel, most of whom would not be out in the field but would be in an Incident Command Post or other administrative facility. One of the suggestions in the online survey for a new name is “Incident Management Guide”, which would make it more of an all-hazard publication.
What do you think? Keep the Fireline Handbook the way it is, modify it, or get rid of it?
UPDATE July 14, 2011:
The Incident Reponse Pocket Guide is available as an app for iPhones and Android devices.
Thanks Doug
I noticed with dismay that the IRPG was starting to grow to over 100 pages, including items already found in the FLH. But those items need to find a home somewhere. The real issue is that wildland fire is becoming increasingly more complex, and one single book is unable to contain all the reminders and guidance we need. Rachel articulated an idea worth trying: One book without duplications.
I agree, Bill. I’d like to see a revision of the FH, eliminating unnecessary duplications, but still retain it as a resource.
One idea: Why not also provide a digital version for use by those utilizing iPads, tablets, or laptops while they participate in incident management?
The NWCG needs to determine the INTENT of the FLHB. The Firescope Field Operations Guide (FOG), an Incident Command System Publication last updated in July, 2007, has a very clear “Statement of Intent” which includes this:
If the duplication is removed from the FLHB that is also in the IRPG, what remains will be essentially the content of the FOG, “position descriptions, checklists, and diagrams”, which are not covered in the IRPG or the Standards for Fire Operations (Red Book). A firefighter that has been doing their job and responding to incidents for a decade rarely has a need to refer to this type of information. However, someone coming up through the ranks does.
If the FLHB is abandoned, the “position descriptions, checklists, and diagrams” need to find a home somewhere, either in the IRPG, which may make it too cumbersome, or in the Red Book. Or, just rely on the FOG if it is ever updated. But keep in mind that appendixes A and B in the FOG contain 83 pages of California-specific information.
Ordering information for the Field Operations Guide (FOG).
A .pdf copy of the FOG.
I agree with Joe.. the FLHB has become unnecessary. When the IRPG is updated, the direction has been “validate existing information in the IRPG, propose any deletions and / or additions. Keep in mind that the IRPG needs to continue to be a “pocket guide”.
I hope that the “ear pig”, IRPG, continues to be “pocketable” or it will go the way of the Fire Line Handbook.. originally designed to be “pocketable” but so overgrown and all encompassing that it became relegated to the truck or office and rarely opened by firefighters.
In addition to the IRPG, the Standards for Fire Operations (RED BOOK) is published annually and between those two, the FLHB is another unnecessary book. By the time NWCG goes thru the effort of publishing a new one it will become outdated after the other two get published the next year. Remember the original intent of the FLHB, the fire fighter and that need is being met and then some by the two updated books…