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You may have heard fire staff on our daily Operations videos refer to areas as “Division Alpha” and “Division Zulu” when only A and Z are on the map. Why not just say “A” or “Z”? Clear communication is a vital part of fire operations. In many cases, there is no room for error.

The firefighters on the ground, in the air, and at the Incident Command Post all need to communicate to each other remotely. Have you ever been spelling your name over the phone, and you say “M”, but the person writes down “N”? It’s irritating but not critical that a mistake was made. When our firefighters are communicating about operational locations, it’s critical to effectively communicate so all resources understand and can operate accordingly without any confusion or misunderstandings. Firefighters lives depend on clear and consistent communication, and the phonetic alphabet is one simple practice to ensure that happens.