Properly positioned fire apparatus on the fire scene will provide fire fighters a safe area to exit, perform pump operations, retrieve necessary equipment from storage locations during the entire course of the emergency, and provide a direct route of escape if the crew needs to evacuate their location. In this situation the steep terrain and fast burning fuels increased the potential for the fire to burn across the slope below the crews and sweep uphill to trap them. The elements of LCES form a safety system used by fire fighters to protect themselves. LCES is a self triggering mechanism. Lookouts assess and reassess the fire environment and communicate threats to safety to the fire fighters.
Fire fighters use escape routes to move to safety zones.
Before safety is threatened, each fire fighter must be informed how the LCES will be used. The LCES system must be continuously re-evaluated as conditions change. The IC should routinely evaluate the effects of his initial decisions, reevaluate fire conditions, and fine tune the attack plan, making significant changes when necessary. Upon reevaluating the fire conditions, the IC should convey safety-related information to all personnel and maintain communications. However, on larger fireground operations, as crews become spread out, this information could be relayed through the use of two-way radios.