Who has the ultimate responsibility at an incident scene?

The incident commander holds the ultimate responsibility at an incident scene because they are tasked with overseeing the entire operation, making critical decisions about tactics, resource allocation, and the safety of both personnel and the public. The incident commander is in charge of assessing the situation, ensuring proper communication between teams, and overall incident management. They have the authority to implement strategies to mitigate hazards and direct the activities of all other officers working on the scene.

While other roles, such as the operations chief, safety officer, and logistics officer, play vital parts in the incident response, their responsibilities are subordinate to those of the incident commander. The operations chief typically focuses on executing the incident action plan, the safety officer is primarily concerned with monitoring safety conditions, and the logistics officer manages resources and support services. However, all these roles report to and operate under the guidance of the incident commander, who maintains the primary responsibility for the incident's outcome.