Ics who is in charge of staging

Recognized as a critical element of the Incident Command System, Staging Areas are established to maintain a ready reserve of tactical resources and operational overhead to support evolving or emergent operational resource requirements. Staging Areas with adequate resource reserves are a critical component of maintaining a proactive posture on the incident and readiness to respond to contingencies.

Often misunderstood to be part of the Logistics Section, Staging Areas are an organizational element of the Operations Section. The designated Staging Area Manager is responsible for all activities within that area, to include establishing, maintaining, check-in, storage, and distribution of all resources at staging.

There may be more than one Staging Area on an incident and separate Staging Areas may be designated for land-based and maritime resources. Typically, aviation resources are staged at the Air Operations Base instead of a multi-resource staging area. The Operations Section Chief may identify the need for a Staging Area at any time, but this typically occurs in the initial response or as part of the IAP planning process during the Tactics Meeting or preparation for the Tactics Meeting.

Like an Incident Command Post, Joint Information Center, or Incident Base, a Staging Area is considered an incident facility and the required logistical support requirements can be lengthy. While the direction to establish a Staging Area comes from the Operations Section Chief, the Logistics Section has a requirement to support the Staging Area as a facility.

Once the site is acquired, the Staging Area Manager, along with support from the Logistics Section, will determine the layout to support the operational aspects of the Staging Area along with all of the associated support elements that will be co-located with the Staging Area.

Depending on the activities within the Staging Area, the Logistics Section would provide shelter, security, signage, supplies, and other support items. There is only one per incident and is usually located with other facilities such as Incidnet Base.

It shouldn't be relocated because that would hinder the top most commands of the incident. Communications is usually found here so the command team can communicate easily.

The Planning function is usually done here also. There must be large adequate room to spread out. Situation Reports and status displays might be neccesary for the incident to be shown. Agency representatives for the incident usually located here also. An expanded ICP is needed for unified commands, long term incidents or when on-scene communications, planning and command staff are needed.

The ICP is located on an incident map by a square with the bottom right corner triangle of the square filled out. The Incident Base is the location of the primary support activity of the incident. The Logistics section can be found here. This is where the firefighters come to rest and relax. There is only one base per incident.

There are usually pre-designated incident bases in the area so it is easy to secure and setup a location without too much hassle. An easy Incident Base can be the county fairgrounds, a local group campground, or other large gathering area that can be taken over for a week or more. There will always be a Base Manager assigned and sometimes a seperate frequency just for base operations.

The incident base is located on the incident map by a capital B in a circle. Incident Camps are temporary locations geographically named to provide services close to the incident scene. You can find all the services of an Incident Base at a Camp although it is usually setup for temporary purposes and can be moved at a moment's notice. It is a subset of a Base and geographically placed at the entrances and exits of an Incident. Sometimes they go hand in hand with the Staging Area of the incident.

Camps are found on the incident maps as a C with a circle around it. Staging Areas play a key role in the incident. It is the location where all available resources stage before they are assigned somewhere. Several can be used at different geographic locations but the majority of the direct attack staging areas must be within 5 minutes of tactical operations of the incident but out of the line of danger.