IDLH Tactical Worksheet® / Est. 2017

The Fire Board. On the Rig Before the Call.

The fire board is not a command-post tool that comes out for the big call — it is part of every shift, on every rig, ready before the tones drop. Aviation-style fireground checklists. ICS-aligned dry-erase layout. Built by firefighters who run command with the tool they ship to your station.

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Also searched as: Fire Board · Fire Service Board · Fire Department Board · Fireground Worksheet · Daily Fire Officer Tool · Tactical Worksheet

IDLH Tactical Worksheet fire board with all-hazard checklists on the rig

50States Equipped

8Fireground Checklists

11×17″Dry-Erase, Double-Sided

USADesigned & Built

01 / Why Every Rig Needs One

The Board Belongs on the Rig.

A fire board is not an emergency-only artifact. It is not something the chief grabs from a shelf when the radio gets serious. It is daily fire service equipment — same as the irons, same as the high-rise pack, same as the TIC. On the rig. Part of every shift checkoff. Ready before the call.

The mistake most departments make is treating the fire board like a special-occasion tool. They keep one in the BC's vehicle, maybe a spare in the training office, and then they discover at the working fire that nobody remembers exactly where it is. The IDLH Tactical Worksheet® was designed to live somewhere else: on the rig that responds to the call, in the same place the officer reaches for the size-up tools every shift.

It is used today by career and volunteer fire departments, training academies, EMS supervisors, hazmat teams, and forward-working officers across the country. The thing they share is not the badge or the patch — it is the discipline of treating the board as part of standard rig equipment, ready before the tones drop, not after.

02 / What the Board Brings

Six Reasons It Earns Its Place.

The IDLH fire board against every other tool in the cab — what sets it apart on a daily-use basis, not just on the worst day of the year.

Ready Before the Call

Lives on the rig as part of daily kit. No hunting for a board when the tones drop, no improvising on a clipboard. The surface is in the cab, the layout is familiar, the checklist prompts are where the officer expects them.

All-Hazard Coverage

Eight incident-type checklists printed on a single board — Structure, Mayday, Brush/WUI, HazMat, MCI, ARFF, Dive Rescue, Technical Rescue. One tool for every call the engine will answer this shift, not just the working fire.

Aviation Discipline

Cockpit-style checklist prompts written to be scanned in seconds. The board prompts the high-stakes decisions instead of relying on what command can remember under stress, after twelve hours into a tour.

ICS / NIMS Aligned

Positions for the Incident Commander, Command Staff, General Staff, divisions, groups, and branches. Personnel accountability, conditions/actions/needs, and benchmark documentation built into the layout. Interoperable across departments and jurisdictions.

Built by Firefighters

Designed and revised by active fire service personnel. Every line on the board has been pressure-tested at real incidents and refined based on what came back from the after-action — not theorized at a desk in a marketing meeting.

American Made

Designed and manufactured in the United States by IDLH Technology, LLC. Shipped from Denver, Colorado. Built by people running command with the tool they ship to your station — same board on their rigs, same board on yours.

03 / Engineered for Daily Use

The Board Earns Its Place on the Rig.

A fire board only works if it is where the officer can reach for it. Not in a binder. Not in a desk drawer. Not in a tote bag in the back of the BC's car. On the rig that runs the call. Part of the cab kit. Part of the daily checkoff. Sized to mount or stow next to the radios, the maps, the size-up tools.

The IDLH Tactical Worksheet® was engineered around that reality. The format works in the cab and at the front bumper. The material survives the abuse of repeated shifts, repeated calls, repeated training drills. The layout is consistent enough that the new lieutenant who picks it up at shift change reads the same surface as the twenty-year captain on the next due engine.

It is not a board you reach for during the incident. It is a board you train on, drill with, and have in your hand before the incident starts.

SHIFT READY

On the Rig at Roll Call

Sized to mount or stow in the cab. Part of the daily truck checkoff. Inspected and accounted for at shift change — same as every other piece of equipment the engine carries.

CALL READY

In Hand at Size-Up

The board is in the officer's hand by the time the size-up is done, not while they search for it. Aviation-style checklists for structure, mayday, brush, hazmat, and every other call the engine answers.

OFFICER READY

Familiar Under Stress

Daily contact builds muscle memory. The officer who handles the board every shift does not have to think about where the mayday checklist is when they need it — they reach for it the way they reach for the irons.

04 / Shop

Put It on the Rig.

The Standard Edition is the front-line board — premium styrene, weather-resistant, built to mount or stow on the rig and survive years of daily handling. The Value Edition is the training board — same layout, same checklists, priced for academies, recruit classes, and drill night.

Standard Edition

IDLH Tactical Worksheet® Fire Board

Aviation-style fireground checklists. ICS-aligned 11×17″ dry-erase. Built to live on the rig.

$149.99

USD · Ships within 2–4 Business Days

Dimensions: 11″ × 17″, double-sided
Material: Premium styrene, weather-resistant
System: ICS & NIMS aligned
Checklists: Structure, Mayday, Brush/WUI, HazMat, MCI, ARFF, Dive, Tech Rescue
Origin: Designed & made in the USA
Ships From: Denver, Colorado · 2–4 business days

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05 / Incident-Type Checklists

One Board. Eight Calls.

Eight incident-specific checklists printed directly on the board. The system covers what the engine, the truck, and the rescue are likely to see on any given shift. Click any incident to view the checklist in detail.

06 / Specifications

The Numbers.

Dimensions, materials, system alignment, and edition options for the IDLH Tactical Worksheet® Fire Board, Standard Edition.

Close-up of IDLH Tactical Worksheet command board checklist prompts

Dimensions: 11″ × 17″, double-sided
Weight: 1.6 lb (726 g)
Material: Premium styrene with dry-erase laminate; weather-resistant
Format: Dry-erase, double-sided (all-hazard checklists + tactical layout)
System: ICS / NIMS aligned · Supports PAR, CAN, division/group tracking
Checklists: Structure · Mayday · Brush/WUI · HazMat · MCI · ARFF · Dive · Tech Rescue
Design: Aviation-inspired checklist framework
Editions: Standard (front-line) · Value (training, station, academy)
Origin: Designed and manufactured in the USA
SKU / GTIN: IDLH-CB-STANDARD · 860002374192

07 / From the Rig

What the Bugles Are Saying.

Career captains, training officers, volunteer chiefs, and BCs running the IDLH fire board as part of daily rig kit.

The board lives in the cab now. It rides every shift. The new lieutenants who promote up don't have to be talked into using it — by the time they get the bugle, they have already had it in their hand at a hundred calls. It is part of how they think about command, not a separate skill.

Career Captain Urban Fire Department · Mountain West

I teach recruits to do truck checkoff at the start of every shift. The board is on that checkoff list, same as the irons and the radios. By the time those guys finish probation, they have a piece of equipment they trust under pressure — because they have handled it every day for a year.

Training Officer Recruit Academy · Mid-Atlantic

Volunteer department. Twelve calls a month. We do not get the reps the career houses get, so we needed something that does the remembering for us. The board sits on the apparatus all the time — when the pager goes off at three in the morning, the structure is already in place. The brain just has to follow the prompts.

Volunteer Chief Rural Fire District · Texas

I am a battalion chief. The board rides in my vehicle every shift, every day, no exceptions. The day I forget it is the day I get the working fire — that is the law. So I do not forget it. The board is part of the routine before the call, and the call is easier because of it.

Battalion Chief Combination Department · Pacific Northwest

08 / In the Field

The Board on the Job.

Walkthroughs of actual incidents, drills, and shift use with the IDLH fire board in hand. See how the board reads when it is part of standard rig equipment, not a special-occasion tool.

→ View All Playlists on YouTube

09 / Questions From the Field

What the Field Asks.

The questions captains, training officers, and chiefs ask about the IDLH fire board before they put one on the rig. Don't see yours? Contact the team.

What is a fire board and what does it do?

A fire board is the physical, structured surface a fire officer uses to run command at incidents — recording personnel, assignments, benchmarks, and conditions. The IDLH Tactical Worksheet® fire board adds aviation-style checklists into that same surface, so the officer is prompted through high-stakes decisions instead of relying purely on memory under stress.

Why does the fire board live on the rig instead of in the office?

The fire board is a daily-use tool, not an emergency-only artifact. Mounted on the rig and part of every shift checkoff, it is ready the moment the tones drop. Departments that treat the board as part of standard rig equipment see significantly faster command setup at working incidents.

Is the IDLH fire board only for working fires?

No. The board carries eight all-hazard checklists — Structure, Mayday, Brush/WUI, HazMat, MCI, ARFF, Dive Rescue, and Technical Rescue — covering every incident type the engine will answer. It is built for the working fire and every other call that follows.

How is the fire board different from a tactical worksheet?

A tactical worksheet is typically a piece of paper or laminate that captures personnel, units, and benchmarks. A fire board does that and more — providing aviation-style checklists, accountability frameworks, and incident-specific prompts on a single dry-erase, double-sided surface. The IDLH Tactical Worksheet® combines both into one tool.

Will using the fire board slow command down?

No. The aviation-style prompts are written to be scanned in seconds — a few words per item — so the board prompts decisions without dictating them. Departments adopting the board consistently report that command gets faster, not slower, once the layout is familiar.

Where is the fire board manufactured?

Designed and manufactured in the United States by IDLH Technology, LLC. Most orders ship within 2–4 business days from Denver, Colorado. Local Denver Metro customers can opt for Uber pickup for same-day or next-morning delivery.

What sizes does the fire board come in?

The flagship 11×17″ Standard Edition is sized for command vehicle dashboards and full incident command operations. Compact 6×6″ JR editions are available for forward-working officers, ISO, PIO, and active threat applications where the full board is impractical.

Does the fire board work for volunteer and rural departments?

Yes. The board is in active use across career, combination, and volunteer departments nationwide. The checklist framework is particularly valuable in lower-call-volume environments where high-risk incidents are infrequent — the structure of the board fills the gap that repetition fills for high-call-volume departments.

10 / The Company Behind the Board

IDLH Technology.

A small American company building command tools for the fire service since 2017.

IDLH Tactical Worksheet fire boards in use on apparatus and at real incidents

IDLH Technology, LLC was started in 2017 by working firefighters who had watched the fire board get treated as a special-occasion artifact instead of standard rig equipment. The boards that existed were either generic whiteboards with no structure, or rigid binders that nobody opened in the heat of a working call. Nothing was built to live on the rig, get handled every shift, and be ready before the tones drop.

The IDLH Tactical Worksheet® Fire Board was built to be that tool — a single, structured, dry-erase surface that belongs on the apparatus, gets handled every shift, and is familiar enough under stress to do its work. Used by career, combination, and volunteer fire departments across the United States. Revised continuously based on what comes back from real incidents.

The IDLH Tactical Worksheet® name and logo are registered trademarks of IDLH Technology, LLC. The fire board is part of the broader IDLH command tool lineup — including Standard, Value, JR, ISO, PIO, Active Threat, Big Print, and other edition variants. The flagship product line is at commandboard.com; the working-fire-focused variant is at firecommandboard.com; the ICS/NIMS-focused variant is at incidentcommandboard.com; the standalone checklist booklet is at commandchecklist.com; the full Shopify store is at tacticalworksheet.com.

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