Leader’s Intent - Stories From the Fireline

In October 2003, in the midst of the widespread wildland-urban interface fires that came to be known as the California Firestorm, a firing group had been assigned a straightforward task: light a backfire on the west side of a frontage road to head off the main fire and keep it from crossing a major interstate highway. The Santa Ana winds from the east created the right conditions for a successful burn.

The firing group and the holding crews—roughly 80 firefighters— were in position. Helicopters were in orbit to support the operation. Television crews and reporters were on hand, poised to shoot action footage for the evening news. The stage was set for a grand show. Everyone was leaning forward waiting for the first drop from the drip torch.

As part of his final check, the crew leader in charge of the operation looked down, around, and up—and saw something that stopped him cold.

High above the approaching fire, the upper transport winds had shifted direction back to the prevailing west-southwest. The surface winds still blew from the east, but conditions were changing in the sky. Smoke from the fire was sheering off at 200 feet and blowing east.

The experienced crew leader quickly calculated that a backfire would likely feed into the main fire, generating increased embers and burning debris that would ride on a transport wind and spot on the other side of the interstate.

As dozens of people waited, the leader consciously took a tactical pause.

He first tried to contact the Firing Group Supervisor, but communications were down. He then collaborated with the Division Supervisor. Together they agreed to disregard the original order because the plan was increasingly unlikely to achieve the Incident Commander’s intent—preventing the fire from crossing the interstate highway.

They instead created a plan to have the firefighters defend the frontage road from the approaching fire. They also decided on a contingency plan: Setting a trigger point, they concurred that if the transport winds again switched direction from the east, they would go ahead with the original plan to start the backfire.

Their alternate plan to defend the frontage road worked, meeting the leader’s intent behind their task. The fire did not cross the interstate highway at that location on that day.

[Click here to download a copy of Leading in the Wildland Fire Service.]