FYI: In the US the local fire chief is always considered the primary Incident Commander representing the municipality and its citizens. States in the US are all "Home Rule" States meaning the municipality in which the incident occurs is primarily responsible for all response and recovery efforts. The local Fire Chief therefore always takes command, assesses the situation and determines whether a "single" or "unified command and implements an appropriate "unified" response. he primary "Incident Commander" His first duty is to declare the incident and  The Commander of the post closest to the incident becomes the first "Incident Commander"  

The Incident Command System has been used since the turn of the century to take control during any large scale disaster such as the annual flooding in the southwest USA. It was formally adopted by fire fighters in the 1940's to fight forest fires traveling across municipal' boundaries. We use Incident Command and Control to mobilize veterans during a natural disaster, terrorist attack, pandemic, or community crisis. Our mission is to train veterans so they'll be ready to reinforce fire fighters, law enforcement, emergency governments, and homeland security personnel if and when these professional first responders are overwhelmed, burned out, or the duration of the incident goes past 14 days. Our goal is not to replace trained, professional first responders but rather to provide Door County Wisconsin with a fourth shift of responders if and when they're needed.