General
freelancing
What does freelancing mean?
Acting on your own at an incident instead of staying with your crew and following the incident commander's plan. It's the cardinal sin on the fireground: nobody knows where you are, nobody can save you when it goes bad, and you blow up the accountability system the whole operation runs on. Freelancing shows up in the cause-of-death section of more LODD reports than almost anything else.
"Engine 4's officer caught the new guy freelancing on the second floor and tore him a new one back at the station."
Origin
American fire service jargon, in common use since the 1970s; repeatedly cited as a contributing factor in NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation reports.
Frequently asked questions
What does "freelancing" mean in firefighting?
Freelancing is going off on your own at a fire scene instead of following the plan — a dangerous act that can get people killed.
How do you use "freelancing" in a sentence?
"No freelancing on this fireground — everyone stays with their assignment."
Why is freelancing dangerous for firefighters?
Acting alone breaks command and accountability, putting the freelancer and their crew at serious risk.
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