7.9 Decision Making
All of the incidents reviewed involved the introduction of an incident command system that generally morphed into a unified command structure. All of the incidents involved had the respective fire departments initially lead the incident command system.
Generally, the decision to evacuate was made by the incident commander in consultation with other senior staff and advisors. There generally were discussions revolving around the incident, time needed to evacuate, the type of evacuation to call for, etc. Based on the interviews, there was a collaborative approach to issuing evacuation orders.
February 6, 2006
Publication #FHWA-HOP-08-014
