Clearing the Fog

Fire officers often talk about the "fog of war" that envelopes a fire scene. Fire officers seek anything that helps clear that fog.

Example: I was outside a scene a few nights ago and had two search teams in a building looking for 2 probable victims. I lost radio contact with one of the search teams and was pretty sure they turned the wrong direction (a not great thing to do when you can't see your own feet). It was difficult to not panic, and VERY hard to wait to hear from them and even harder to make the decision NOT to send in more resources to look for them. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear. All I could do was wait....

Both teams checked in within 2 minutes, which can seem like an eternity. A tool like EnRoutePro gives me the visibility to see where units and people are at, even if they are obscured in smoke, or on the other side of the building, or hidden behind a berm on a field fire.

~An Anonymous Firefighter