**[Initial Facilitator Information---NOT TO BE SHARED WITH
STUDENTS]{.underline}**

**Title: Maintaining Control / Valley Prescribed Fire**

**Author(s):** Ben Jacobs Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

**Target Audience:**

Burn Bosses, Firing Bosses, Firing Team Leader (to adapt the game for
lesser experienced players at the FFT1 level)

**Training Objective:**

Given the following scenario, various Supervisors will be confronted
with a situation where they lose control of their resources. Players
should verbally communicate their responses to the appropriate
individuals.

**Resources Referenced:**

All resources are optional; it is up to the Facilitators discretion,
experience and ability to facilitate a TDGS as to how many resources and
role players will participate.

-   **Burn Boss Type 2 (minimum), Firing Boss, Firing Team Leader (FFT1
    preferred) (all Player Roles)**

-   Holding Boss

-   Type 1 Crew Superintendent

-   Duty Officer

-   2 Type 3 Engines

-   Replacement Firing Boss

-   Replacement Firing Team Leader

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**[SCENARIO INFORMATION TO BE SHARED WITH STUDENTS]{.underline}**

**Facilitator Briefing To Student(s):**

Burn specifications:

-   Size -- total burn = 375 acres; segment 1 = 45 acres

-   Fuel Models -- 8, 9 and 10 (coniferous timber)

-   Topography -- south facing slope, 30% average, 6800-7600 feet

-   Objectives -- reduce dead and down in all size classes by 60-80%;
    limit mortality to \<10% in trees \>12 inches DBH

Prescription

-   Temperature -- 40-80˚

-   RH -- 20-80%

-   Winds -- 0-8 mph, any direction

-   1 hour fuel moisture -- 4-12%

Current conditions:

-   Date -- October 15

    -   Time -- 1000

-   Temperature -- 54˚

    -   RH -- 52%

    -   Winds -- upslope @ 2 mph

    -   1 hour fuel moisture -- 9%

You are the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ on the Valley Prescribed
Burn. This is the first day of a multi-day project. You gave your
briefing and all the parameters are in prescription. Despite fuel
conditions being on the drier end, you and your overhead are confident
the burn can be successfully completed. All items on your go/no go
checklist were are a "go" and you are ready to proceed with the test
burn. The objective today is to ignite Segment 1, 45 acres, which will
form part of the blackline for the balance of the unit.

You contact your \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and tell him/her to go
ahead and proceed with the test burn. He/she briefs the Firing Team
Leader and the firing team. You are not sure how it happened, but
shortly after the burning started there were 6-10 burners running drip
torches in what appeared to be different directions. Within minutes
there is a large amount of fire on the ground which you estimate to be
around two acres. Trees are torching (which is an unwanted fire effect)
and no one appears to be in control of the firing.

Take 2 minutes to develop your response to this situation keeping in
mind that not all of the igniters will have radios.

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**[ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR FACILITATOR ONLY]{.underline}**

**Facilitator "Murphy's Law" Suggestions:**

The "Murphy's Law" suggestions listed below can be added as "What ifs"
at any time during the scenario to raise the stress level of the lead
player. You can also use one of your own:

**Burn Boss**

-   You had to inform the dispatcher that you were shutting down the
    test burn. The Duty Officer gets on the radio and wants and
    explanation why you are shutting the burn down.

-   A spot fire is detected due to torching from the test burn which
    will tie up holding resources and prevent you from continuing to
    burn.

-   Burning has continued and at 1200 the burn pattern is leading to
    unwanted scorching of trees that are highly visible near a popular
    road. Reconfiguring the firing team stagger could fix the situation
    but will you have to override the original directions of the Firing
    Boss.

**These next two "what ifs" may need a Facilitator "tactical pause" to
alter the scenario (i.e. -- "it is now 1300 and the Burn Boss replaced
the Firing Boss with a new individual..." Allow the player to respond to
each event.**

-   By 1300 you realize that the Firing Boss doesn't really know his/her
    job. You feel a need to step into the operation and make an overhead
    change.

-   At 1400 the new Firing Boss tells you they are not comfortable doing
    the operation. They feel overwhelmed and suggest you plug the
    original Firing Boss back in the organization.

**[Firing Boss]{.underline}**

-   The Burn Boss starts reconfiguring your firing team stagger without
    talking to you.

-   The Firing Team Leader informs you he/she cannot account for one the
    burners. This person does not have a radio.

-   You give instructions to your Firing Team Leader and they become
    insubordinate because they don't agree with you.

**These next two "what ifs" may need a Facilitator "tactical pause" to
alter the scenario (i.e. -- "it is now 1300 and the Burn Boss replaced
the Firing Boss with a new individual..." Allow the player to respond to
each event.**

-   By 1300 you realize that the Firing Team Leader doesn't really know
    his/her job. You feel a need to step into the operation and make a
    personnel change.

-   At 1400 the new Firing Team Leader tells you they are not
    comfortable doing the operation. They feel overwhelmed and suggest
    you plug the original Firing Team Leader back in the organization.

**[Firing Team Leader]{.underline}**

-   One of your igniters reports that they lost their radio.

-   One of your igniters asks you a question about the burn pattern that
    you don't know the answer to.

-   You give instructions to one of your igniters and they become
    insubordinate because they don't agree with you.

-   You can't account for one of the igniters. This person is without a
    radio.

-   You receive instructions from the Type 1 Crew Superintendent who is
    your normal boss. These instructions directly conflict with what you
    were told to do by the Firing Boss.

**Facilitator's Notes:**

The scenario in this TDG is the same for each of the three overhead
positions. Their responses will vary depending on where they are within
the chain of command. [The facilitator should pick which overhead
position will be the player (depending on the experience level of the
players) each time this scenario is run.]{.underline} The TDG is
designed for only one individual to be the player at a time.

The idea with this TDG is to put the Prescribed Burn overhead into a
situation where they lose control of their resources. There is also a
secondary issue of not becoming distracted by outside people or events.
It is important to emphasize that with the liability related to
prescribed burning, having strict control over one's resources cannot be
overstated. All it takes is one errant burner to change the fire
situation rapidly. It's possible for individuals to let their guards
down, due to the nature of prescribed burning versus suppression
incidents. This is important to recognize so corners are not cut with
the standard fire orders.

The facilitator has the option of role playing one or more of the
additional roles. This may be effective with the original dilemma to
ensure the objective of the game is achieved. However, the facilitator
should take care not play too many roles or to dominate the exercise.
There should be some room for flexibility to allow the game to take
unforeseen directions. Facilitators should be creative and experiment
each time they put this game on, based on prior experiences with this
scenario.

The original scenario relates to the primary objective. The "Murphy's
Law -- What Ifs" branch into the secondary objectives. These mostly
relate to the players being distracted by other people or events. The
secondary objectives are best delivered by other role players using the
scripts below. The facilitator should designate other members of the
group to act as the additional role players during the two minutes the
player is considering their original response. The facilitator should
brief all role players on when to enter into the scenario. In this way
the facilitator can control the pace of the game and throw in "what ifs"
as their discretion to keep the game flowing. As with any real life
scenario, events are influenced by the personalities of the people
involved. These are the unknown human factors. The role playing scripts
are intended to allow the role players flexibility to add a human factor
component throughout the game. The facilitator should encourage this to
run its natural course as long as the players remain serious and stick
to the intent of the dilemmas.

Role player scripts have been provided in the amendment section to
assist the facilitator with role player prompting.

The facilitator must find the balance as to not overload the players but
keep as much pressure on them as they can handle.

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**After Action Review:**

Conduct an AAR with focus on the training objective. Use the AAR format
found in the Incident Response Pocket Guide to facilitate the AAR. There
are four basic questions in the AAR.

1.  What was planned?

2.  What actually happened?

3.  Why did it happen?

4.  What can we do next time?

**The key items to consider in the AAR are:**

-   LOSING CONTROL OF RESOURCES AT ANY LEVEL OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND HAS
    AN INFLUENCE ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP.

-   Which fire order number is maintaining control related to?

-   Why is it important to maintain control of your resources?

-   What did each of the overhead players consider when trying to
    correct the situation?

-   How did the overhead players feel when confronted with potentially
    difficult situations?

-   Did any of the players feel overwhelmed?

TDG shouldn't have a single solution, keep the focus of the AAR on what
was done and why.

**[ROLE PLAYING SCRIPTS]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE DUTY OFFICER AND HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED BY THE DISPATCHER
THAT THE BURN BOSS SHUT THE TEST BURN DOWN SHORTLY AFTER BEGINNING. YOU
CONTACT THE BURN BOSS BY RADIO AND WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON UP
THERE AND WHY HE/SHE SHUT THE TEST BURN DOWN.**

**[(Burn Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE HOLDING BOSS. AFTER THE TEST BURN YOU INFORM THE BURN BOSS
THAT YOU HAVE A SPOT FIRE THAT WILL TIE UP ONE ENGINE AND A SQUAD OF
FIREFIGHTERS TO GRID FOR MORE. YOU ARE NO LONGER COMFORTABLE WITH
CONTINUING THE BURN.**

**[(Burn Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE FIRING BOSS AND THE BURN BOSS JUST RECONFIGURED YOUR
FIRING TEAM WITHOUT CONSULTING YOU. YOU CONTACT HIM/HER ON THE RADIO AND
ARE EXTREMELY UPSET.**

**[(Burn Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE FIRING BOSS AND AT 1300 THE BURN BOSS INFORMED YOU THAT
HE/SHE IS REPLACING YOU WITH ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL. YOU CONFRONT THE BURN
BOSS ON PLAYING FAVORITES AND DISAGREE WITH HIS/HER DECISION TO RELIEVE
YOU. YOU DEMAND AN EXPLANATION.**

**[(Burn Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE SECOND FIRING BOSS AND YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE WITH YOUR
ASSIGNMENT. AT 1400 YOU TALK TO THE BURN BOSS FACE TO FACE AND REQUEST
THAT HE/SHE ROTATE YOU OUT AND PUT THE ORIGINAL FIRING BOSS BACK IN.**

**[(Burn Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE FIRING TEAM LEADER. YOU RADIO THE FIRING BOSS AND INFORM
HIM/HER THAT YOU CANNOT LOCATE ONE OF YOUR IGNITERS. THIS IGNITER
DOESN'T HAVE A RADIO. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND ASK FOR GUIDANCE.**

**[(Firing Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE FIRING TEAM LEADER. YOU HAVE JUST BEEN GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS
OVER THE RADIO BY THE FIRING BOSS THAT YOU COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH. YOU
RADIO BACK THAT THAT PLAN WON'T WORK AND THAT YOU ARE REFUSING TO CARRY
OUT THE INSTRUCTIONS.**

**[(Firing Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE FIRING TEAM LEADER AND AT 1300 THE FIRING BOSS INFORMED
YOU THAT HE/SHE IS REPLACING YOU WITH ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL. YOU CONFRONT
THE FIRING BOSS ON HIS/HER DECISION TO RELIEVE YOU. YOU ARE DEVASTATED
AND BEG TO BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE TO AVOID EMBARRASSMENT.**

**[(Firing Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE SECOND FIRING TEAM LEADER AND YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE WITH
YOUR ASSIGNMENT. AT 1400 YOU TALK TO THE FIRING BOSS FACE TO FACE AND
REQUEST THAT HE/SHE ROTATE YOU OUT AND PUT THE ORIGINAL FIRING TEAM
LEADER BACK IN.**

**[(Firing Boss is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE AN IGNITER. YOU TELL THE FIRING TEAM LEADER FACE TO FACE THAT
YOU LOST YOUR RADIO. YOU ARE IN A PANIC AND REQUEST PERMISSION TO GO
BACK INTO THE BURNED AREA TO LOOK FOR IT. YOU PLEAD TO THE FIRING TEAM
LEADER TO NOT MENTION THIS TO ANYONE.**

**[(Firing Team Leader is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE AN IGNITER. YOU ARE CONFUSED ABOUT THE BURN PATTERN AND WHY
YOU ARE BURNING IN THIS WAY WHICH IS HAVING QUESTIONABLE FIRE EFFECTS.
YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW THE SPECIFIC BURN OBJECTIVES RELATE TO THE
PRESCRIPTION PARAMETERS AND HOW THE FIRE INTENSITY BTU'S ARE BEING
MEASURED TO ENSURE THOSE OBJECTIVES ARE BEING MET.**

**[(Firing Team Leader is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE AN IGNITER. YOU HAVE JUST BEEN GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS FACE TO FACE
BY THE FIRING TEAM LEADER THAT YOU COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH. YOU REFUSE
TO CARRY OUT THE INSTRUCTIONS AND ACCUSE THE FIRING TEAM LEADER OF
INCOMPETENCE.**

**[(Firing Team Leader is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE TYPE 1 CREW SUPERINTENDENT. YOU GIVE THE FIRING TEAM
LEADER INSTRUCTIONS THAT COMPLETELY CONFLICT WITH THOSE OF THE FIRING
BOSS. YOU DON'T EXPECT TO TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER FROM THE FIRING TEAM
LEADER BECAUSE THAT PERSON NORMALLY WORKS FOR YOU.**

**[(Firing Team Leader is the role player)]{.underline}**

**YOU ARE THE FIRING BOSS. YOU DEMAND TO KNOW WHY THE FIRING TEAM LEADER
JUST CHANGED THE IGNITION PATTERN AND WHO TOLD THEM DO TO SUCH A THING.
YOU SCOLD THE FIRING TEAM LEADER OVER THE RADIO.**

**[(Firing Team Leader is the role player)]{.underline}**