I READ WITH INTEREST THE leadership article following interviews with managers from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue. Of particular interest was the issue about Gold Command, interaction with the incident ground and the different competencies required.

Silver and Gold Decisions
I agree with much of the article but find recently that there seems to be a growing narrow view of Gold Command. Gold Command is more than representing the Service at the multi-agency table, helping with strategic decisions or just deciding what has to be done.
I do not agree that Silver and Gold Command have completely distinct and different competencies. There does have to be clarity of role but the competencies complement each other and certainly did at Buncefield. Buncefield Gold stood for five days and many strategic decisions were made starting with the biggest strategic decision: “Do we try and put the fire out or let it burn because of the environmental impact?” Other strategic decisions covered the motorway network, public health, petroleum supplies and national foam production. These were strategic multi-agency decisions with discussion at the Gold table but they were just one element of being the Gold Commander for Buncefield. Buncefield may have been a ‘localised’ major event only covering a few hectares but it was certainly a fire led event. When I sat at the Gold table people were expecting me to have technical, operational and tactical knowledge as well as the ability to make strategic decisions as we set priorities.
I needed to understand their questions and make my answers understood. I, of course, had Gold support and it would be feasible to turn to that support to provide the technical knowledge and answer.
That being the case, however, I would have been the only Gold level representative sitting at the table with Police, the Health agencies, Environment Agency, County Council, District Councils and others having to do so.
One of the recommendations Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service includes in our presentation, report and debriefs, is to ensure agencies send representatives to meetings with the knowledge and authority to make decisions, and this includes Gold meetings.
In my view the situation would be different for a regional flood. Fire would have its place at the table but would not lead. The Fire Gold Commander would need to know the Service’s capabilities but the lead on evacuation and recovery etc would be with police and local authorities. A Fire Gold Commander needs to be able to operate at Gold whether leading or supporting.
Returning to Buncefield, the Gold Strategic meetings were every two or three hours. All eyes were on fire first.

In between came side meetings with all the other agencies, countless discussions with Silver to shape plans and bounce ideas, and work with the media. All of which required high technical input and confidence, yet again Gold support could discuss the fire plan with Silver and another representative could front the media but one begins to wonder who should be the Gold Commander.

Leadership Resilience
One also needs to consider personal resilience and the resilience of the top management team. The DCO and ACOs in Hertfordshire all took Silver Command but also spent time in Gold. Their competencies were complementary. The final plan of attack for the fire was developed at Silver but explained, discussed and agreed at Gold, led by Fire Gold Command answering lots of Service specific questions.
Far from seeing Silver and Gold Command competencies as distinct I see them as complementary as one builds on the other. I see this as analogous to moving from Watch Management to Station Management. One does not leave the Watch Manager competencies behind, rather they are built on for the next role.

Many officers in my role can point to many fires of all sizes they have attended, learnt from, and enhanced their skills. I have also been fortunate in my career to have many other experiences to help me along the way, including Bronze Command at the Mortar Bomb attack on Downing Street, and Silver Command at the Paddington Rail Crash, to name two significant events.
I am not saying that command levels cannot be developed by those who have not come up through the ranks and this is the only way to become a Gold Commander. I am not that much of a dinosaur at 43 but I sometimes wonder if my thick skin is starting to turn a shade of green.

I agree that all Command levels could benefit from additional training and development, as we all continue to learn. What I am saying is whilst we develop these training programmes let us please ensure we keep a wide view about the demands of Gold Command.
Also, we should not underestimate the development gained from attending and taking charge of progressively larger incidents. Rigid demarcation rarely works in life and in my experience rarely works for major incidents.

The final plan of attack for the Buncefield fire was developed at Silver but explained, discussed and agreed at Gold, led by Fire Gold Command answering lots of Service specific questions