Incident Command System Summary

Every disaster incident that occurs, varies in size and complexity based upon on the elements involved. However, through effective planning and use of the Incident Command System (ICS), agencies involved can coordinate a unified response to address all-hazards. One example incident which used ICS was the Duke Energy Diesel Spill of August 19th, 2014. First, to become familiar of with ICS, a brief history of its inception and how it is utilized to address any hazards will be provided. Then, a summary of the Duke Energy Diesel Spill incident will be provided. Afterward, an examination will be conducted into the utilization of ICS during the Duke Energy Diesel Spill. Overall, by better understanding the utilization of ICS, agencies can be better

According to Walsh et al. (2012), ICS originated from the fire ground command system in California which was utilized to combat wildfires in the 1970s. Essentially, the basis of ICS is to create a standardized response which can be utilized at any level of government (tribal, local, state, or federal) to address any incident type. Though standardized, ICS offers flexibility to tailor a response to the complexity of a specific incident and allows for expandability as an incident grows (Walsh et al., 2012). Fundamentally, ICS achieves collaborative and coordinated response by managing resource span of control and separating the incident into functional five areas (command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration). Walsh et al. (2012), report beyond its foundational structure, ICS is successful by utilizing common terminology, management by objectives, an incident action plan, and comprehensive resource management. Overall the ICS framework enables seamless management and response to address any incident type. Now let’s examine the Duke Energy Diesel Spill of

The Duke Energy facility is located near Cincinnati, Ohio close to New Richmond, Ohio. Additionally, the facility routinely transfers diesel fuel from various tanks on the facility to enable generation of electricity. The night of incident, one of the facility’s operators was transferring fuel from three separate tanks, each with approximately 705,000-gallon capacity to two separate tanks each with a 30,000-gallon capacity. However, due to operator error, the transfer continued beyond the capacity of the receiving tanks causing diesel fuel to spill into a spill containment area (USAO Southern District of Ohio, 2016). Unfortunately, in this case, a valve, which allows overfilled product to be contained within the containment area, was left open causing diesel fuel to openly flow into the Ohio River. As a result, an estimated 9,000 gallons were released into the Ohio River, creating a rainbow sheen approximately 15 miles long (USAO Southern District of Ohio, 2016). Overall, this incident created potential harm to the environment and the public. Now, let’s see how the federal/local agencies addressed this incident through use of