Does your fire department have a risk vs. benefit model for fire and rescue operations? One of the most popular risk vs. benefit rules I know of was first taught to me at a command seminar by the chief from the Phoenix, Ariz., fire department. It says:

• We will risk a lot to save a lot
• We will risk a little to save a little 
• We will risk nothing to save nothing

But have we really thought about what that means and how it will relate to our tactics? Obviously some of us have; Preliminary reports of the 2005 firefighter LODDs show that there were no firefighter LODDs in abandoned buildings. The new hip buzz word of the fire service is “safety.” Using a risk vs. benefit model like the one above could be your department’s first step towards a safer fire ground in 2006. This is not meant to discount aggressive interior fire attack or other more aggressive tactics; Sometimes we will risk everything to save a life that can be saved. We as a service just need to make sure that when we are taking heroic action that we are truly doing it for the right reasons under the right conditions.