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NYC Fire Department Objects to WMD Scene Plan
The New York City Fire Department said that plans to put the city’s Police Department in charge of sites of a chemical or biological weapons attack “jeopardizes public safety,” the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 11). The city’s emergency response plan is set to be unveiled in coming days. It calls for the Police Department to take charge of operations at the scene of a chemical or biological event. Fire Department officials criticized the plan in a February memo and subsequent meetings with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Times reported. They argue that the department has extensive experience in handling hazardous-materials events, and possesses the know-how and equipment to identify and contain dangerous substances. In most U.S. cities, fire departments lead the response to a hazardous materials release, according to the Times. While he said his firefighters would obey the rules, Chief Peter Hayden questioned the value of the response plan. “If the question was posed today — would the response to a terrorist incident be different than it was on 9/11? — the answer would have to be no,” Hayden said. “Now if that isn’t a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is.” The two agencies continue to have troubles working together, according to the Times. More than three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the fire and police commanders still do not have a shared radio frequency they can use to communicate directly with one another (Michelle O’Donnell, New York Times, April 22).
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