Fireground Decision Support

Overview#

Fireground Decision Support gives incident commanders and crews real-time, evidence-backed tactical guidance at the exact moment a fireground decision has to be made.

From a single structured size-up the module computes the deterministic numbers that drive sound firefighting tactics: the required fire flow for the building and its level of involvement, whether the water supply can actually sustain that flow, how far the hot cordon and downwind hazard should reach when pressurised cylinders or placarded chemicals are present, and how long breathing-apparatus teams can safely work before they must turn around. Those explainable calculations then become the foundation for a grounded, doctrine-aware recommendation on the mode of attack, with every point traced back to the sources that support it.

Because each recommendation cites the standard operating procedures, building pre-plans and reference data it relied on, and openly flags what was assumed and what remains uncertain, commanders keep full accountability while reaching a decision faster. Critical misses such as an inadequate water supply, an under-estimated cordon, or a breathing-apparatus team at risk of being overrun are surfaced proactively rather than discovered the hard way. When no supporting sources can be retrieved, the module returns a clearly marked rules-based result rather than inventing guidance, and every response carries a mandatory safety caveat that keeps the human commander firmly in command.

Key Features#

• Deterministic Required Fire Flow: The module calculates required fire flow from the building footprint, the percentage of involvement and the storey count using the National Fire Academy quick-calc formula. The result is fully explainable: it records every assumption applied for missing data, such as a worst-case full-involvement default, so commanders can see exactly how the figure was reached.

• Water Supply Adequacy Check: A measured hydrant flow, or a conservative estimate derived from an open-water, shuttle or hydrant descriptor, is compared against the required fire flow. The module reports the surplus or shortfall in litres per minute and raises an explicit warning when supply is inadequate, prompting a request for more water or a switch to defensive tactics.

• Hot Cordon and Downwind Hazard Distances: Cordon and downwind distances are set from the most conservative driver available. Confirmed hazmat isolation and protective-action distances take priority, followed by pressurised-cylinder rules such as a long stand-off for acetylene and liquefied petroleum gas, then a fire-stage baseline. Downwind hazard scales with wind speed so a stronger wind widens the protected zone automatically.

• Breathing-Apparatus Air Management: Working duration and turnaround time are derived from a nominal breathing-apparatus cylinder rating, derated for real working conditions, and the turnaround point is set using the Rule of Air Management so a reserve is always held back for egress. The module warns when too few sets are on scene to commit a team with a stand-by rescue crew.

• Chemical Register Cross-Reference: When chemical identifiers or UN placards are supplied, the module looks them up to surface recommended extinguishing agents, agents to avoid, and Emergency Response Guidebook isolation and downwind protection distances. The most conservative distances across all referenced substances drive the cordon advice, with hazmat input lists bounded to keep each request fast and predictable.

• Tenant-Scoped Source Retrieval: A retrieval step pulls the requesting service's own standard operating procedures, building pre-plans and doctrine documents, strictly scoped to the requesting organisation. Retrieved passages become explicit citations on the recommendation, so guidance reflects local policy rather than generic advice.

• Doctrine-Aware, Role-Aware Recommendations: Recommendations can be framed under UK National Operational Guidance, NFPA and NIMS, the Incident Command System or AIIMS, and adapt to the requesting role from incident commander through to crew leader. The mode-of-attack heuristic returns offensive, defensive, transitional or non-intervention guidance based on fire stage, water adequacy and flashover and backdraft cues.

• Honest Confidence and No Confabulation: Each result carries a confidence level together with its assumptions and remaining uncertainties. When no supporting sources can be retrieved the module produces a clearly marked rules-based fallback rather than fabricating citations, and every response ends with a mandatory safety caveat that keeps the on-scene commander accountable.

Use Cases#

Structure Fire Incident Command#

An incident commander arriving at a working structure fire enters the size-up and immediately sees the required fire flow, whether the available supply can sustain it, and a mode-of-attack recommendation grounded in the service's own procedures. The shortfall warnings flag an inadequate supply before crews are committed to an interior attack that water cannot support.

Hazmat and Cylinder Incidents#

When placarded chemicals or pressurised cylinders are reported, the module cross-references the reference data to recommend the correct extinguishing agents, list agents to avoid, and set a cordon driven by published isolation and downwind protection distances. Commanders get an evidence-based stand-off distance rather than a guess under pressure.

Breathing-Apparatus Deployment#

A sector commander planning committal of breathing-apparatus teams sees safe working duration and the turnaround point before air becomes critical, plus a warning when too few sets are present to maintain a stand-by rescue crew. This reduces the risk of a team being overrun deep inside a building.

Audiences#

• Incident commanders weighing offensive, defensive, transitional or non-intervention tactics.
• Sector and crew leaders managing committal, water and breathing-apparatus on their sector.
• Safety officers validating cordon distances, downwind hazard zones and air-management margins.
• Control-room and dispatch staff preparing an early picture before the first appliance is in attendance.

Integration#

Fireground Decision Support is delivered through the platform's GraphQL endpoint with three operations: one to run the deterministic calculations for a size-up, one to compose a grounded and cited recommendation for a chosen decision point, and one to persist a size-up with its computed results for incident record-keeping. All three are authenticated and scoped to the calling organisation, so a service plugs in once and consumes the capability across command applications, mobile responder tools and control-room dashboards.

Access is secured with OAuth2 and JSON Web Token bearer credentials, the same model used across the platform, so existing identity and single-sign-on arrangements extend to this capability without bespoke wiring. Reference data is reached through a Chemical Register connector, and local procedures, pre-plans and doctrine are reached through a tenant-scoped retrieval connector, both returning a normalised citation model of source type, title, identifier and excerpt. A customer benefits by feeding in its existing document library and hazmat references and getting recommendations that speak in the language of its own operational guidance, with machine-readable citations that downstream incident-recording and debrief systems can store and replay.

Open Standards#

• NFA/Iowa Required Fire Flow quick-calc: The fire-flow calculation implements the National Fire Academy quick-calc method as documented in IFSTA Essentials of Fire Fighting, converting building footprint and involvement into a required flow.
• Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG): Hazmat cordon and downwind advice uses ERG isolation and protective-action distances, drawn from the cross-referenced reference data when chemicals or placards are present.
• UN placard / dangerous goods identifiers: Hazmat substances are resolved by UN number and chemical identifier, the internationally recognised dangerous-goods labelling scheme, to drive the correct response guidance.
• SCBA Rule of Air Management: Breathing-apparatus turnaround timing follows the Rule of Air Management as set out in Gagliano and colleagues, "Air Management for the Fire Service" (2008), reserving a third of the cylinder for egress.
• UK National Operational Guidance (NOG): Recommendations can be framed under the United Kingdom National Operational Guidance doctrine for fire and rescue operations.
• NFPA and NIMS: Recommendations can be framed under National Fire Protection Association practice and the National Incident Management System used across United States fire and rescue services.
• Incident Command System (ICS): Role-aware guidance maps to the Incident Command System command structure recognised internationally for emergency response.
• AIIMS: Recommendations can be framed under the Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System for services operating under that doctrine.
• OAuth2 and JSON Web Tokens (JWT): Every operation is protected by OAuth2 authorisation and JWT bearer credentials for standards-based authentication and tenant isolation.

Security & Compliance#

Every operation is authenticated and strictly scoped to the calling organisation, so one service can never read another service's procedures, pre-plans or saved size-ups. Source retrieval fails closed: if no organisation context can be established it returns no sources and the recommendation drops to a clearly marked rules-based fallback rather than reaching across tenant boundaries. Hazmat input lists are bounded so a single request cannot trigger an unbounded volume of reference-data lookups.

The capability is decision support, not a replacement for human command. Every recommendation carries a mandatory safety caveat reminding the user that visual cues are indicative rather than definitive, that hazards must be confirmed on scene, and that crews must work to their own service's operational guidance and treat unknown materials as hazardous until verified. Saved size-ups are persisted per organisation for incident record-keeping and later debrief.

Last Reviewed: 2026-05-26 Last Updated: 2026-06-01