I conferenced with the Team Leader and the other Assistant Team Leader last night to discuss the mission.

Both I and the other Assistant Team Leader were out of town, so we were somewhat handicapped in our ability to address certain specifics of the call. The Team Leader said he did not hear the initial dispatch as it first came out as a service call for a nearby fire company to assist in the search. We will be requesting an audio copy of the call for further review.

While I cannot provide certain details, I do feel that there are some lessons to be learned that hopefully will be of benefit to others. I will pass those items along as appropriate. There were some mistakes made in the overall operation, as there are with many calls and we will attempt to address them (some already have) with the various participating groups. The main issues were the dispatch process, accountability and command and control.

Those familiar with fire department operations will recognize this call as a “build a box” assignment, basically an ever increasing dispatch of resources. The analysis will be ongoing and I will attempt to relay the facts and my interpretation of the operation as I learn certain details.

Pete