Oct 10, 2008 4:07 pm US/Pacific
Good Question: Who Picks The Name Of Fires?
(CBS13)
When you hear us report a wildfire, like the one this week at Camp Pendleton you've probably noticed the fire gets a name almost immediately. Some stick with you like the "Angora Fire." So who picks the name?
By the time the trucks roll out, it's likely the fire they're headed for already has a name. It happens right when the call comes in.
"The dispatchers in the Emergency Command Center do actually come up with that name," said Paul Van Gerwen, Cal Fire Battalion Chief.
Paul says assigning a name keeps communications clear.
"It can either be an address, a geographic landmark of some kind, but the policy is they try to keep it a very simple name, easy to spell, a few syllables, so that as it's pronounced on the radio, it's easily understood," said Paul.
The same process works for naming vehicle accidents and structure fires.
"If you have more than one incident going at the same time, that allows you to identify and separate those incidents," said Paul.
And it all starts with the first person to get word of trouble.
"Until the first unit arrives on scene, the person in charge of that incident is the dispatchers in the command center," said Paul.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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