Who is responsible for establishing forward accountability in firefighting operations?

The correct choice for establishing forward accountability in firefighting operations is the Incident Commander. The Incident Commander plays a critical role in managing the overall incident response and ensures that all personnel deployed in operations are accounted for. Forward accountability refers specifically to maintaining knowledge about the specific locations and actions of firefighting teams as they engage in operations.

The Incident Commander is responsible for coordinating all incident-related activities, which includes the delegation of tasks and monitoring the safety and effectiveness of the response. This position enables them to track personnel movements, ensuring that teams are not only effective in their firefighting tasks but also safe while on the scene.

Roles like the Crew Staging Officer may play a part in managing teams ready for deployment, but they do not have the overarching responsibility for ensuring accountability in active operations. Similarly, the Safety Officer focuses on the safety of personnel, while the Fire Chief oversees the entire department and strategic decisions but is not involved in the direct accountability during specific incidents.