AUBURN – The information firefighters need should be familiar, Deputy Fire Chief Mike Minkowsky told a handful of Auburn police officers Friday.

“It’s just the way that we say it is a little different from the way you would,” he said.

Minkowsky is meeting with Auburn police, explaining some of the terms firefighters use and the things they look for when sizing up an emergency, whether it’s a building fire or an automobile accident.

So far, he’s briefed a handful of officers at their roll call, as their daily shift is getting started. He met with one group Wednesday and another Friday. He’ll continue the briefings next week.

“Basically, you guys are always out on the street, so it’s likely you’ll get to the scene first,” Minkowsky said. “If you can size things up first, it really helps us out.”

For example, firefighters label each side of a burning building. Alpha is the front, Charlie is the back, Bravo is the left side and Delta is the right.

“Of course, just saying, ‘We have a two-story building with a fire in the front’ works too,” said police Lt. Paul Labarre.

Minkowsky also encouraged officers to walk around as much of the building as possible and describe what they see – how many stories the building is, whether it’s made of wood or brick, whether there are people inside. Assessment needs to include the condition of the building, ranging from no smoke to heavy smoke, room fires or fully involved blazes.

“Just tell us what you see,” Minkowsky said. “Even basic information like that helps us decide how we’re going to set up, and that saves time.”

It should be a two-way street. Minkowsky said he’s hoping that police meet with firefighters to brief them on things they can do to help police.

“I imagine crime scene preservation would be a good one,” Minkowsky said. “When we come upon the the scene of, say, a knife fight, our first instinct is not to preserve the evidence. But maybe there is something we can do.”

That’s a discussion for a later date.

“But I know these are going to continue,” he said. “It’s very useful.”

The briefings are part of an effort to combine some department functions. Minkowsky said this stops short of combining jobs, but relies on city staff working together.

“It means a job is done by one person, but another person can share in some of the responsibility and help out,” Minkowsky said.