Situational awareness: Fire survival guidance - wildfire

This control measure should be read in conjunction with:

• Situational awareness: Survival guidance

• Situational awareness: Fire survival guidance – building fire

There are several factors which may affect the advice given to callers by fire control personnel, as well as the ability for operational personnel to rescue people at risk. These include:

• Whether people at risk have time to, and are evacuating the area or seeking shelter
• The environment they are seeking shelter in
• The immediate threat to people at risk, for example:
  • The direction that the fire is travelling in
  • The location and travel of the fire in relation to the caller’s location
  • The effects of the fire they are being exposed to, for example flames, smoke or heat

There may be difficulty in locating people at risk in an open area due to the size of the area where wildfires can occur. The use of location services should be considered to identify their location and shared with operational personnel.

Ongoing and constant situational updates from operational personnel should include information about the exact location of the fire, the fire front and the direction that the wildfire is travelling. This will enable fire control personnel to give appropriate guidance and advice if it has been identified that people at risk are seeking shelter in the direction of fire travel.

There may be occasions where the environment that people at risk are seeking shelter in is on fire. Continual assessment by fire control personnel as to whether it is safe for them to evacuate or not based on the conditions inside and outside the environment will determine the advice and guidance given. Control measure – Protect people at risk: fire survival guidance – wildfire contains more information.

Information gathered from agencies that provide weather information and predicated forecasts will support operational personnel in preparing their tactical plans based on the situation they are currently facing or may face in the future. Examples of weather information include wind direction, wind speed, rainfall, temperature and relative humidity.