OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Interim Fire Chief Tony Miller and Captain Mike Craff recently completed a “Command & Control at Target Hazards” training course at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburgh, Maryland. The five-day class was designed to introduce command officers to the complexities involved in commanding incidents in high-risk areas. Participants were confronted with a number of fire and rescue incidents that include high life hazard, multiple exposure, and unusual occupancy risk considerations. The participants were taught operational applications in the Incident Command System (ICS), command and control, decisionmaking, strategic and tactical considerations, pre-incident preparation, documentation, and post-incident analysis. Several simulations and case studies were used to depict and review incidents in various types of target hazards, including penal institutions, bulk oil-storage facilities, nursing homes, colleges, chemical/agricultural manufacturing plants, and grain elevators.
This was the second course that Interim Fire Chief Miller attended at the National Fire Academy and the first for Captain Craff. In 2008, Chief Miller successfully completed the “Command & Control at Multi-alarm Incidents” course at the Academy. Last year, three additional Ottumwa Firefighters attended the National Fire Academy, including Captain Kerry McDonald, Captain Bryan Carnahan, and Firefighter Cory Brown.
Through its courses and programs, the U.S. Fire Administration’s (USFA) National Fire Academy (NFA) works to enhance the ability of fire and emergency services and allied professionals to deal more effectively with fire and related emergencies. Each year, the National Fire Academy receives over 15,000 applications from firefighters around the country requesting to attend courses at the training facility with only 3,000 being accepted. The federal government pays for all costs of the training except meals.
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