SWP - Wildland Deployment, LCES and Heat

This procedure applies every time a crew engages a grass, brush, forest or interface fire, from the first arriving apparatus on a roadside grass fire to a crew on day six of an out-of-area deployment. It covers the pre-engagement briefing, LACES (lookouts, anchor points, communications, escape routes, safety zones: the LCES discipline as Canadian agencies teach it, with the anchor point added), the structural-gear limit, structure protection, apparatus placement, aircraft, heat and work-rest, and disengagement. Smoke and respiratory protection follow Respiratory Protection Program; rehab follows SWP - Rehabilitation at Incidents and Training; drones follow SWP - RPAS Flight Operations. It is written for the crew leader and the crew, not the auditor (Wildland and Interface Program).

Burnover and entrapment (small or quiet fire, light fuels, unexpected wind shift, fire running uphill, chimneys, saddles, steep slopes) (National Wildfire Coordinating Group, n.d.); falling trees and snags; chainsaw injuries; heat exhaustion and heat stroke, worst in structural gear (CSA Z1010:18); smoke, carbon monoxide near pumps and burning structures (IARC, 2023); vehicle rollover on soft shoulders and back roads; being trapped in a dead-end driveway; aircraft drops and rotor wash; downed power lines; fatigue on multi-day deployments; disorientation at night or without a map (Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, 2024).

1. Elimination. Do not engage where LACES cannot be established; defensive position from the road or the black instead.
2. Substitution. Water and sprinklers ahead of the fire instead of crews beside it; prepare-and-leave instead of prepare-and-defend where the triage says so.
3. Engineering. Apparatus parked to leave; coupling adapters; carbon monoxide monitor; radios on the agency and air-to-ground channels; a field map.
4. Administrative. The LACES briefing; trigger points set before engagement; the structural-gear limit; the work-rest cycle and hydration schedule; the deployment cap; aircraft drop clearances; the in-briefing for visiting crews.
5. PPE. Wildland ensemble (NFPA 1950, 2025), helmet, goggles, gloves, boots, shroud, hearing protection for saw and pump work, hydration carrier; SCBA for interface interior work; fit-tested APR where the matrix assigns it (CSA Z94.4-18).

Wildland ensemble worn for any assignment beyond the first minutes off the apparatus; structural gear only for interior work in an interface structure. Radio per crew with a spare battery; the lookout has a radio. Hand tool per member; backpack pump; portable pump and forestry hose with adapters; chainsaw kit with chaps and face shield for the trained operator; water and electrolyte for the crew; WBGT or humidex reading; carbon monoxide monitor at the pump; map or mapping device; the briefing form (Form - Wildland Deployment Briefing and Work-Rest Log).

A crew leader with the wildland fire officer competencies (NFPA 1140, 2022) and ICS-200; every member with the basic wildland course the wildland fire agency requires (J35 Wildland and Interface Fire) and recurrency inside 12 months and entrapment avoidance training (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, n.d.); a lookout with a radio who does nothing else; a chainsaw operator with competent-person training where felling is expected; a rehab function at any incident beyond one operational period.

Pre-use checklist (before leaving the apparatus). Ensemble on and correct. Radio check with command and the lookout channel. Water carried. Tool in hand. Map loaded. Briefing form started. Apparatus parked to leave.

1. Size up before engaging. Weather now and forecast (temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed), time of day and drying trend, fuels (light or heavy), slope and terrain features (chimneys, saddles, ridges), snags, power lines, access and turnaround, structures threatened, aircraft working. Read the day’s heat action level from Heat, Cold and Weather Program.
2. Decide: engage or hold. Engage only if LACES can be established within the time available. If any LACES element cannot be met, hold at the road or in the black and report.
3. Post the lookout. A named member, with a radio, in a place that sees both the fire and the crew, with no other task. Confirm on the form.
4. Fix the anchor point. Start the line from a road, the black, water or bare ground so the fire cannot get behind the crew.
5. Test communications. Radio check lookout to crew leader to command; confirm the air-to-ground channel is monitored by someone; agree the pull-back words.
6. Walk and time the escape routes. Two routes, flat or downhill, marked, timed at a loaded walk. Say the times aloud. Re-time when the crew moves.
7. Name the safety zone. Already burned ground or a clearing large enough for the flame length and slope expected; time to reach it from the work area; everyone knows where it is.
8. Set the trigger points. Wind shift, spot fire across the line, flame length, time of day, resource status. Write them on the form. When a trigger point is reached, the crew leaves without waiting for a new order.
9. Name the watch-outs present (National Wildfire Coordinating Group, n.d.). For each one, re-check LACES.
10. Brief the crew with the card (Wildland and Interface Program toolkit T4) and ask: “Does anyone see a reason not to go?” Record who was briefed.
11. Work with one foot in the black where possible. Never on a ridge or in a saddle ahead of the fire; never below a fire on a slope without a safety zone; no work in the dark on unfamiliar ground (NFPA 1140, 2022).
12. Keep crew integrity. Nobody works alone; the crew leader can see or reach every member; personnel accountability reports on the interval command sets (SWP - Accountability and Personnel Accountability Reports).
13. Manage heat and work-rest. Hydrate on the schedule, about 250 mL every 15 to 20 minutes in heat (NFPA 1580, 2025); take the work-rest breaks the action level sets; watch each other for cramps, dizziness, confusion, no sweating; send any member with symptoms to rehab and say so on the radio. A member who says “I need rehab” goes to rehab; nobody argues.
14. Smoke. Rotate out of heavy smoke; position upwind; wear the respirator the matrix assigns for mop-up near burning structures; SCBA for any interior work in an interface structure; carbon monoxide monitor on at the pump and in low wind.
15. Structure protection. Triage each structure with the worksheet (program toolkit T5) before committing. Prepare and leave unless the structure is defensible with the resources, time and escape route available. Name the withdrawal trigger for the structure and the escape from the driveway. Never commit a crew to a structure without an escape route. Sprinklers per the agreed plan.
16. Apparatus. Back in, nose out, windows up, headlights on, engine running, keys in, clearance from vegetation per the program. No dead-end driveway without a turnaround. Soft shoulders and back roads at crawl speed; spotter for every backing move. Pump-and-roll only under the written procedure.
17. Aircraft. Know what is flying and on what channel. Never under a drop; clear 60 m or more; if caught, face away, lie flat, helmet on, tools away. Helicopter landing zone rules per the agency and the best-practice note (MLITSD, n.d., GN 6-41). Report any hobby drone to command at once.
18. Chainsaw and snags. Only the trained operator cuts; chaps and face shield on; a lookout for the cutter; snag assessment before any work under the canopy; escape path from the cut.
19. Power lines. 10 m clearance from any downed or sagging line; treat burning poles as energized (SWP - Downed Power Lines and Utility Emergencies).
20. Disengage at the trigger point or on the pull-back call. Move together to the safety zone by the escape route; PAR on arrival; report to command.
21. End of period. Complete the work-rest log and the exposure entry for each member; count hours against the deployment cap; wash and dry hose before storage; inspect ensembles; hot debrief with the one question.

• Entrapment threatened. Call it on the radio at once; crew moves together to the safety zone by the shortest escape route; if the route is cut, into the black or the largest cleared area; lie flat, face down, helmet and shroud on, tools away; command accounts for the crew and sends help. The department does not issue fire shelters; the escape route and safety zone are the plan (Wildland and Interface Program element 5.5).
• Heat stroke. Confusion, collapse or hot skin: stop, cool now (shade, water on the skin, ice to neck, armpits and groin), call EMS, transport (Heat, Cold and Weather Program toolkit T7).
• Member missing. Declare it on the radio with the last known position; PAR; command assigns a search with LACES for the searchers.
• Injury from a drop, a snag or a saw. First aid; call EMS; the aircraft stops drops on that division until the casualty is clear.
• Vehicle rollover. Crew out through the uphill side; account for everyone; report; nobody re-enters a vehicle on fire.
• Carbon monoxide alarm at the pump. Move the pump or the people; check SpCO in rehab.

The completed Form - Wildland Deployment Briefing and Work-Rest Log for every engagement and every operational period, filed with the incident record; the structure triage worksheets; the exposure entry per member per deployment to the cancer tracking system (Occupational Cancer Prevention, Exposure Tracking and Screening Program); any heat illness, near miss, drop event, entrapment threat or vehicle incident reported the same day under Incident Investigation and Learning Program; the deployment cap tracker daily during deployments.

Every fireline member is signed off on this procedure at the basic course and at each annual recurrency; crew leaders are observed delivering a briefing at the spring practical day; the crew leader signs the briefing form; the company officer signs the work-rest log. This procedure is reviewed annually by the Wildland and Interface Program Improvement Team with a learning-team session after the season, after any Tier 2 or Tier 3 event, and after any change to the agency’s course or procedures (Wildland and Interface Program).

• Program: Wildland and Interface Program; Heat, Cold and Weather Program; Firefighter Rehabilitation Program; Respiratory Protection Program; RPAS Program
• Policy: Policy - Emergency Operations Safety; Policy - Fatigue and Hours of Work
• Forms: Form - Wildland Deployment Briefing and Work-Rest Log; Form - Heat and Cold Stress Monitoring Log; Form - Exposure Report
• Audit: Checklist - Wildland, Heat and Weather

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.

Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. (n.d.). Canadian Interagency Exchange Standards and WFX-FIT [Web page]. https://ciffc.ca/standards/wfx-fit

National Wildfire Coordinating Group. (n.d.). 10 and 18 poster: 10 Standard Firefighting Orders and 18 Watch Out Situations (PMS 110-18). https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms110-18

Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development [MLITSD]. (n.d.). Firefighter guidance notes (Section 21 Advisory Committee; individual notes revised to 2026). https://www.ontario.ca/document/firefighter-guidance-notes