10 & 18

TEN STANDARD FIRE ORDERS

Fire Behavior:
1. Keep informed on fire weather conditions and forecasts.
2. Know what your fire is doing at all times.
3. Base all actions on current and expected behavior of the fire.

Fireline Safety:
4. Identify escape routes and make them known.
5. Post lookouts when there is possible danger.
6. Be alert. Keep calm. Think clearly. Act decisively.

Organizational Control:
7. Maintain prompt communications with your forces,
    your supervisor, and adjoining forces.
8. Give clear instructions and ensure they are understood.
9. Maintain control of your forces at all times.

If 1-9 are considered, then:
10. Fight fire aggressively, having provided for safety first.

The 10 Standard Fire Orders are firm. We don't break them, and we don't bend them.

18 WATCHOUTS

  1. Fire not scouted and sized up.
  2. In country not seen in daylight.
  3. Safety zones and escape routes not identified.
  4. Unfamiliar with weather and local factors influencing fire behavior.
  5. Uninformed on strategy, tactics, and hazards.
  6. Instructions and assignments not clear.
  7. No communication link between crewmembers and supervisors.
  8. Constructing line without safe anchor point.
  9. Building line downhill with fire below.
  10. Attempting frontal assault on fire.
  11. Unburned fuel between you and the fire.
  12. Cannot see main fire, not in contact with anyone who can.
  13. On a hillside where rolling material can ignite fuel below.
  14. Weather gets hotter and drier.
  15. Wind increases and/or changes direction.
  16. Getting frequent spot fires across line.
  17. Terrain or fuels make escape to safety zones difficult.
  18. Feel like taking a nap near fireline.