What critical role does the Incident Commander play during an event?

The Incident Commander plays a pivotal role in managing emergency situations and is primarily responsible for overall incident management. One of their key responsibilities is to order and release resources based on the needs of the situation. This involves assessing the incident's scale, determining the necessary personnel and equipment, and using available resources efficiently to ensure effective response and mitigation of the incident.

Ordering resources ensures that the right assets are deployed to address the specific challenges of the incident, while releasing resources involves recognizing when certain assets are no longer needed and can be freed up for other emergencies or support efforts. This decision-making process is essential for maintaining operational effectiveness during an event and ensuring that resources are allocated where they are most needed.

In contrast, while community training programs, fire inspections, and risk assessments are important components of fire service duties, these activities are typically not the primary focus of an Incident Commander's role during active incident management. The Incident Commander's attention must remain on directing operations and making strategic decisions, rather than engaging in these ancillary activities. Therefore, the focus on ordering and releasing resources aligns directly with the core functions of the Incident Commander in managing emergency incidents.