| I was sent to the Modoc NF to help assist with an upcoming lightning event. I was assigned to a fire with multiple other resources and I was assisting on the fire when the I.C asked one of the Captains from the local area to help by doing an overhead position on the I.A. and he was told he couldn't because they are required to have two drivers on the engine at all times. The I.C. laughed because he thought he was joking but then realized he wasn't, the engine capt apologized and told him he had to find another person to do the overhead assignment. What is the thinking on this decision? I'm from R5 and we don't run with this standard nor have I even heard of this. Not being able to pull some of your most experienced firefighters off their engines to assist in an incident that is growing is a safety issue that needs to be addressed. The captain later stated he has another qualified driver on the engine along with a trainee CDL driver but they aren't allowed to operate the engine without two drivers. Why are we willing to overwhelm an I.C. when qualified people are there ready to assist but can't because of a rule that can and will put lives in danger. We had engines, dozers, aircraft and crews so the span of control was more than the I.C. could handle and assistance was needed. There is no lawful rule or regulation requiring two drivers on the engine as far as I know, but apparently there was a letter put out 4 years ago addressing this. I guess it wasn't shared on my forest. |
