Fire Burn Site Lead

Are you the person to get everyone in the right place at the right time, ready to burn? Some would say it's the heart of the event, and we need it done safely.  Leadership and co-ordination in face of fire, fun, risk and reward.

Your responsibility includes coordinating all relevant teams working on Burn night. It is a key leadership and coordination role. It involves liaising with various teams at all stages of planning, including leading up to the Burn and onsite. Ensure all teams know what they and others are doing, there are clear areas of responsibility, and everyone has what they need to have the night go smoothly and safely.

You are one of the Site Leads operating on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings. Your area of responsibility is related to specific areas and activities – the site of the Burns and the crowds in the areas surrounding it, including the time that the Effigy and Temple teams are doing prep work, when crowds gather, performances, burns, gathering/approaching the fire, until the fire has burned down and most people have left the area. There will be other dedicated site leads for the rest of the Nest site, and they will have responsibility for the Burn site at the point at which you determine it is safe enough to hand back to them. You will also need to check that Effigy and Temple teams deal with the Burn MOOP effectively.

This role will be shared with another co-lead, so you only need to be responsible for either Saturday or Sunday, or you could have one person have the daytime and the other have the evening, and you can have fun the rest of the time!

Main responsibilities

• Coordinating the Burn nights
• Site Lead for the Burn sites on Saturday or Sunday
• Advocate for safety of volunteers and Nestlings
• Engage with other leads around any planning and safety related to the Burn nights
• Liaise with other Site Leads and all other key people working at these times

Key duties in the lead up to Burning Nest

• Attend planning meetings in any relevant areas related to the Burn nights
• Attend Edge of Chaos meetings
• Liaise with every team that works on Saturday or Sunday evening
• Support Effigy and Temple teams, find out what their vision is, and what other teams are needed to support this
• Organise pre-burn leads meeting onsite

Key duties during the week of Burning Nest

• Liaise with other leads, introduce yourself onsite if possible
• Organise and run pre-burn leads meeting (could be Saturday or earlier in the week)

Key duties on Saturday and Sunday

• Support teams where needed, make sure safety cordons etc are in place
• Attend other meetings/briefings and support as appropriate
• Be ready to direct the response to any risks or incidents as needed, but empower the relevant leads to take this responsibility where they are comfortable to do so. Contribute to the decision making as needed
• Debrief with anyone as needed, especially leads

Key duties following the Burn

• Ensure responsible leads have filled in any relevant incident reports
• Follow up with leads and consider a debrief meeting
• Write a post-Burn report including what went well, challenges, incidents, learnings, and what you would change next time

Responsible for equipment

• Needs access to a radio on Saturday and Sunday

Before:

• Capacity required: 2-5 hours per week as needed from January to May
• Attend Site Lead training
• Attend Ranger training (optional)

During:

• Consider whether you'll be needed onsite during build (can be done remotely so long as you can be in touch with Temple and Effigy teams if needed)
• 5-10 hours during the week
• Saturday within 10am-1am*
• Sunday within 10am-1am*
• Must be sober on shift
• Must wear fire safe clothing on Saturday and Sunday evening shifts (natural fibres – cotton/wool or specialist fire response gear) and sturdy footwear, preferably hair covered

*These are not fixed shift lengths. You can be on call for a significant part of this time. Make sure you take breaks when possible.

This lead/co-lead role reports to Health and Safety Lead and Site Management Lead.