LCES & Safety Protocols
The acronym LCES stands for these four critical safety considerations that must be established before firefighters engage on the line.
What are Lookouts, Communications, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones?
NFPA 1977 sets the minimum standards for wildland fire protective clothing, while NFPA 1971 covers equipment for this type of firefighting.
What is structural firefighting?
This simple rule of thumb requires firefighters to take lightning precautions whenever the interval between a ground flash and thunder is under this threshold.
What is the 30/30 Rule (or 30 seconds)?
Ground personnel working in timber near operating heavy equipment must increase their clearance distance from the machine to this multiple of the canopy height.
What is 2 1/2 times the canopy height?
According to NWCG standards, a safety zone must have a radius equal to at least this many times the expected flame length.
What is four times the flame length?
Wildland work boots must be laced, at least 8 inches high measured from the bottom of the heel, and equipped with this type of melt-resistant sole (with an exemption for Alaska).
What are Vibram-type soles?
When working around hand tools on foot or on the fireline, firefighters must maintain this minimum separation distance from each other.
What is 10 feet (3 meters)?
When a dozer operator revs (guns) the engine twice, it communicates this specific message to the spotter on the ground.
What is "I cannot see the spotter"?
Per NWCG Flagging Standards, escape routes should be marked using this specific color and pattern of flagging tape.
What is fluorescent pink flagging with "ESCAPE ROUTE" in black lettering (and black dots)?
The outer layer of a fire shelter consists of woven silica laminated to aluminum foil, whereas the inner layer is made of this material laminated to aluminum foil.
What is fiberglass?
According to the Common Denominators of Fire Behavior on Tragedy Fires, most fatal incidents happen on smaller fires or isolated portions of larger fires, and flare-ups generally occur in this deceptive fuel type.
What are light fuels (such as grass, herbs, and light brush)?
A spotter or line supervisor directs heavy equipment to reverse by using this specific arm motion.
What is a full-circle arm motion in front of the spotter?
When an individual or crew leader determines an assignment cannot be safely carried out as given and an alternative cannot be negotiated, they exercise this action.
What is a Turn Down (or Refusal of Risk)?
When deploying a fire shelter in non-windy conditions, a firefighter stands inside the shelter facing away from the flame front, drops to their knees, and lies face down with their feet pointing in this direction.
What is toward the fire?
Standing dead trees that pose severe falling hazards to firefighters during suppression and mop-up operations are referred to by this term.
What are snags?
When attempting to identify unknown hazardous materials from a safe distance, responders should use this specific reference manual.
What is the Emergency Response Guide (or ERG)?
Firefighters can report unsafe ground hazards or near-misses using SAFENET, while aviation-related safety hazards are documented using this specific form.
What is a SAFECOM form?
If forced to take refuge inside an engine cab during a burnover, firefighters should cover the windshield with fire shelters, run the engine at high idle in road gear, and avoid taking this item into the cab.
What is a charged hoseline?
Direct attack must be abandoned when heavy smoke and flames come within this distance of high-voltage transmission lines.
What is 100 feet (30 meters)?
To request a spot weather forecast for an incident, the request must include incident size, elevation, fuel type, sheltering, fire character, and location given by section or this coordinate format.
What is latitude and longitude?