Located at the Marlkress Station, the Field Command Office, or FCO, serves as the headquarters for our firefighting operations. Staffed 24 hours by a Shift Commander/Battalion Chief, the Field Command Office is responsible for the daily staffing, scheduling of required work assignments, and serves as the command for all emergency incidents.

The on duty Battalion Chief responds to all calls of consequence and when requested by an on-scene Company Officer for any reason. It is their job to; assume command at all emergency scenes, determine the strategy and tactics used to mitigate the incident, direct the on-scene operations, coordinate with outside agencies and oversee scene safety. Occasionally, on larger incidents, the Battalion Chief may assign another officer to handle one or more of these tasks, but they still report to the Incident Commander at all times.

Recently computerized, the Field Command Office can now distribute daily and critical information to all the firefighters with the speed of e-mail. This upgrade has increased efficiency in the behind the scene tasks that further the Fire Department's fire prevention activities. The FCO oversees the collection of data for all commercial properties in the Township. This data is assembled in a "Pre-Plan" for use in an emergency.

Pre-plans enable responding firefighters to glean critical information at a time when it is needed immediately. This information includes written data such as, alarm system information, emergency contacts, locations and aspects of that property's construction. In addition to this written data, a comprehensive, computer generated, floor plan drawing is created to allow firefighters access to information at a glance. All this is assembled and viewed on laptop computers both in the first out fire trucks and the Battalion Chief's Command vehicle.

Click to our Photo Gallery to see pictures of the Command vehicle. You can contact our field Command Office through Fire Administration at 856-795-9805.