Crew size affects fire fighting efficiency: A progress report on time studies of the fire fighting job.

Abstract

Fire fighting is still largely a hand-work job in the heavy cover and fuel conditions and rugged topography of the Douglas fir region, in spite of recent advances that have been made in %he use of machinery. Controlling a fire in this region requires immense amounts of work per unit of fire perimeter, so that large numbers of men are required to attack all but the smallest fires. Therefore the per-man efficiency of the crews used in fire fighting is a vital concern. Under these conditions it becomes extremely important to determine how to use men most effectively, and therein lies the object of the study of which this is the progress report.

Citation

Matthews, Donald N. 1940. Crew size affects fire fighting efficiency: A progress report on time studies of the fire fighting job. PNW Old Series Research Notes No. 29: 11 p.