During-Incident Example Coordination Issues Example Coordination Goals Example Coordination
Phase Mechanisms and Support
Standard Operation Procedure
(SOP), tasks assignments were
made and assumed as predetermined plans with minimal
specific direction
Interior fire attack operations on the
fire in the tunnel, support operations
dealing with water supply, security,
medical services, and so forth
Task Flow
Resources utilization of personnel,
heavy and light rescue equipment,
water supply, and communication
frequency from Baltimore City Fire
Mini- Department, City Police Department,
Second Resource City Emergency Management, Baltimore
Coordination County Fire Department
Cycle
Resources were deployed as per
predetermined plans, and priority-based cause-effect analysis
Communication between the IC, the fire
Information attack teams and the supportive teams
(such as police, EMS, and Haz-Mat)
Decision making for ground operations
such as immediate fire suppression and
containment
Task division and scheduling such as:
- Interior attack teams laid hose lines and entered the hazard area to find
and extinguish the fire
- During the interior attacks, the “second in” engines functioned as water
supply to support interior attacks
- The police secured and blocked the surrounding area and ensured that
only the response resources went through
- While the 5”-diameter hose was lowered into the tunnel through the
manhole, firefighters entered the tunnel and attached their hose lines to
the 5”-water supply and started firefighting
- Individual cars from the end of the train were removed to enable
firefighters to attack the fires in the other cars
Efficient and effective use of resources
- Allocation of a specific radio frequency for ground operations,
maintenance, and management functions
- Allocation of water resource, supplied through a 5” water supply
manifold through a manhole among interior attack teams
- Efficient use (distribution and refill) of personal protective equipment
such as Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) among firefighter
shifts who entered the tunnel
- Efficient use of rehabilitation services, provided by EMS, for the firefighters
- Allocation of crews (engines, trucks, and battalions) among the Camden
sector (north end), Mt. Royal sector (south end), and Tower sector
Real-time information exchange among the interior attack teams for safety Baltimore Fire Department 800MHz
awareness and assistance, fast information sharing between the interior radio systems, hand signals, narratives
attack teams and incident commander for situation report
Effective interpretation of operational challenges (sizing up the situation
and making resource assessment) to develop rapid intervention schemes
with appropriate level of personal and operational safety
Incident priorities (life safety, property
conservation and extinguishment), Standard
Operation Procedures (SOP), Haz-Mat
precautions (flame and chemical contact
Decision protection, supplied air respiration, the
hazards of Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor
Explosion), building safety guidance (in the
face of weakening structural integrity of the
tunnel and immediate surrounding areas)
Confident and trustful relationships among the responders and among the The opportunity of response partners to
helpers, clear accountability, accurate expectations of team members’ exercise together in pre-incident training and
actions and capabilities drills, to instill personal and team confidence
Supervise and support the ongoing Timely and necessary operation interventions to ensure the personal safety Goal selection, task decomposition,
tunnel firefighting and public welfare (responders and the public) and task progress of the entire response effort plug-and-play teaming, coordination
- Appropriate interruptions of the attack on the fire to avoid both exposure by expertise
to risks and waste of resource
- During the response, the U.S. Coast Guard deployed a series of floating
booms to protect the Inner Harbor against contamination and potential
hazardous runoff from the derailment site
- While fire was occurring, citizens of Mount Royal Station were offered the
choice to leave for the “shelter-in-place”
Management of additional response re- Efficient acquisition of additional resources Need-based request (multiple alarm
sources from the City of Baltimore - Apply mutual aid resources to support fire scene operations and stand-by calls), plan of mutual aid
Department of Public Works (DPW); from services in event of additional alarm calls
the Representatives of the South Baltimore - Allocating and maintaining the resource staging area for rapid distribution
Resource Industrial Mutual Aid Plan, CSX Transport- and demobilization of resources
ation, the Maryland Department of
Environment; the National Transportation
Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard
Global information collection, analysis,
and dissemination
Responders and helpers learn to
Responder work together
Task Flow
Efficient management of task-critical information among stakeholders Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)
- The on-site command team kept in close contact with the CSX system, Baltimore City
Transportation companies for train- and cargo-related information Communication Center, dispatch
- Hazard analyses of smoke, air, and water were quickly delivered to the service, public and private networks
on-site command team from the Maryland Department of Environment
(MDE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Coast Guard and
CSX contractor continually during the response process
- Public announcements (including civil defense sirens) were made over radio
and television to alert citizens and to initiate a “shelter-in-place” advisory
Effective evaluation of the response situation and timely transitions of Protocol breaking, joint decision
overall response strategies for higher effectiveness making, cost-benefit analysis
- From initial aggressive attacks (initial direct attacks through both ends of
the tunnel) to passive attack (waiting for the fire to burn out) to defensive
attack (by taking advantage of the rupture of the water main) to aggressive
Decision attack (attack through manhole on the street)
- With the reported water main rupture on the street right above the
tunnel, the on-site management team negotiated with the Baltimore DPW
to keep the water flowing from the ruptured water main into the tunnel
for two hours. This decision effectively cooled the tunnel and prevented a
Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion.
The on-site management team placed confidence on the information Working experience with related
provided by the MDE, Coast Guard, CSX contractor, EPA while issuing agencies through training; develop
orders to the interior fire teams. The onsite management team and the city strong partnership with agencies
management trusted each other to utilize the water breakout for responsible for responding to incidents;
firefighting at the cost of massive impact on the city’s water supply and risk institute predefined plans
of necessitating reconfigurations of the city water systems.
1 James Guy (Ex-Fire Chief and now Chief of Environmental Affairs at the State University of New York at Buffalo) and Dave Humbert (Fire Chief – North Bailey, Amherst, New York) provided
valuable insight into the Baltimore train derailment incident.
Many-Second
Coordination
Cycle Information
Effectiveness of the action plans
(response progress and resources
capability), develop a strategic response
with critical stakeholders involved
(such as city management) to control
and limit the damage to property, the
environment and the welfare of the
citizens of Baltimore
Management of relationship with
the external agencies