EDMG230

Running head: MOCK INCIDENT ACTION PLAN 1

MOCK INCIDENT ACTION PLAN 3

Mock Incident Action Plan

American Military University

EDMG230

Mock Incident Action Plan: Woodland Intermediate School Fire

The following Incident Action Plan was created for a mock disaster. All names, dates, and information are false and are to only be used for the purpose of an assignment given by American Military University.

Just after school started on June 14, 2014 at Woodland Intermediate School, Located in Woodland, Washington a fire abruptly started. The fire was started in the cafeteria located in west wing of the school. Fortunately, all 485 students and 43 staff members were safely evacuated. However, the damage done to the school was significant. Students and staff were emotionally distraught and the physical damage of the building was estimated to be $659,000.

At 8:25am the principal, acting as the initial Incident Commander, pulled the fire alarm which signaled a whole school evacuation. According to Beyond Initial Response, “Based on your (the incident commander’s) assessment you’ll be making some immediate decisions and will continue to do so until successfully resolve the incident or are relieved by a higher official in your agency of by another agency with more jurisdictional authority” (Deal, 2010). At approximately 8:29am the principal is relieved by Randy Humbolt, the Woodland Fire Chief, who takes the role of Incident Commander (IC). Randy has numerous responsibilities and duties but his first priority is to ensure the safety of students and staff who attend the school. To do so he determines who is one scene and finds the principal who assures him that every student and staff member has been accounted for and is out of the building. Chief Humbolt establishes a command post centrally located between the fire location and evacuation spot. Incident objectives are put in place based upon Chief Humbolt’s assessment of the incident scene. Objectives include: ensure the safety of all public and incident responders on school premises, establish a perimeter around the school to keep unwanted pedestrian and automobile traffic away from scene, contain and extinguish fire to prevent further damage to school building or property, communicate promptly and efficiently with responding personnel, community stakeholders, and families of students, and determine cause of fire within a 24 hour period.

Initial communication is established with all other responding agencies by Chief Humbolt. These agencies include Woodland Police Department, Cowlitz County Search and Rescue, Clark Regional Emergency Agency, and school representatives from the school district including the superintendent. The Liason Officer is Becky Johnson, from the Woodland Police Department, and plays a critical role in the incident due to the fact that the general public is very concerned with the location of the incident; a school. Ms. Johnsons has an abundant amount of responsibilities but her primary focus is, “to contribute to the positive public perception of the response and to achieve stakeholder objectives by working closely with them to address concerns” (Deal,2010). Working closely with Becky Johnson will be Jeff Pats who has been named the Public Information Officer. Mr. Pats will manage the communications with the public and media that find their way to Woodland Intermediate School and will make sure they have accurate information on the fire.

The Operations Section Chief will be Chris Booth, from the Woodland Fire Department. From here on out he will manage safe tactical operations and work to communicate closely with Incident Commander Randy Humbolt. He will prepare for the tactics meeting focusing on specific strategies that can be used to achieve the given objectives. Charlie Yager is the Fire Branch Director and will work closely with James Zand the leader of the 18 fireman sent to the scene. Milton Larson, and 7 other officers from the Woodland Police Department, will work to block off entrances to the school to prevent unwanted pedestrian, automobile, and media traffic.

Mark Madson, from the Woodland Police Department, will be the Chief of the Planning Section and has been assigned this role because of his ability to communicate and facilitate well. Chief Madson will play a “critical role in moving an incident from a reactive response to a proactive response” (Deal, 2010). Chief Madson knows that this incident will require a Resource Unit Leader, Ryan Yates, and a Situation Unit Leader, Mitch Graves, to make sure everything runs smoothly. Mitch Graves’ primary responsibility will be to ensure the accuracy of the information he is given and make sure it gets passed on as quickly as possible. The critical position of the Documentation Unit is given to Stacey Anders. Stacey is part of the Woodland Police Department and has been given this role due to the fact that she is organized, thorough, and has an appreciation for accurate documentation.

Due to the nature of the fire at Woodland Intermediate School a Logistics Section is not required. All objectives set forth by the Incident Commander have been met therefore making a Logistics Chief unnecessary. A Logistics Section is only required if two things take place. First, the initial response efforts were not successful. Also, the time needed for response efforts and support required has significantly increased (Deal, 2010). Due to the effectiveness of the Incident Command System in place Logistics is not necessary.

A Finance/Administration Chief is critical in the school fire due to the fact that there was a lot of damage done to the building and students and staff have lost a number of personal belongings. Cari Thomas, from the fire department, will take on this role. She will work closely with the school district in the months to come to help settle claims and allocations of costs (Deal, 2010). Although Thomas’ financial role in this incident is not huge, it is necessary due to the fact that the school has a tight budget to begin with and is primarily funded by stakeholders in the community who want their money spent well.

( ICP ) ( Affected Area )

References

Deal, T., & Bettencourt, M. (2010). Incident Commander. Beyond initial response: using the National Incident Management System's Incident Command System. Bloomington, In.: AuthorHouse.