National Fire Incident Reporting System

Mark Keogh notes, when environmental factors overload our senses, or a small but meaningful element of a chaotic scene distracts attention, or a fast-moving situation that has never been seen before is encountered, cognitive processes can get overloaded.

In this incident, the probationary firefighter from Engine 29 had only responded to a total of three fires coded as a 111 building fire, as defined by the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

None of his experiences included being on the first due arriving engine company and functioning as the nozzle firefighter.

Fire departments should build their response to emergencies based upon reliability and resiliency.