COUNTERTERRORISM RESPONSE: ONE VIEW

BY ANDREW M. TRABANCO

Editor’s note: The following scenarios are written about multiple terrorist attacks within a municipality. The opinions are those of the author alone. The intent is to demonstrate that SCBA and bunker gear will provide protection against some chemical agents. It is not meant to replace haz-mat personnel equipped with Level A protection, but such units may not be available at every location during multiple attacks. The most important operation at any haz-mat incident is risk assessment. The incident commander will make the ultimate decision at the site, weighing the benefits vs. risks to firefighters.

The primary objective of the following exercises is to train firefighters in the fundamentals and proper procedures for responding to a terrorist attack. The exercises were designed for use as flexible training tools by the chief and company officers. Training can be done with only one company or be used in a full disaster drill involving multiple alarms.

Another objective is to demonstrate that firefighters encounter hazardous materials, deadly gases, explosives, and toxic chemicals on a regular basis during many of their routine fire responses. Turnout gear together with SCBA, fog streams, and newly issued detector equipment greatly enhance firefighter survivability and safety when responding to these incidents.

PPE AS PROTECTION FROM CHEMICAL AGENTS

Let’s look at the exposures to hazardous materials encountered during a typical one-alarm fire in a grocery store. Envision fire blowing out of the front door, the store’s windows failing from the heat, and fire autoexposing up the outside of the building. Responding companies are advancing on the fire with two 13/4-inch hoselines.

As the engine companies move in, the attack teams hear popping noises. The lieutenants reassure the young engine firefighters that the popping noises are the propellants used in pressurized aerosol cans. Truck personnel vent the rear of the store as members of the truck clear a path for the advancing engines. With the rear open, the members on the hoselines make an aggressive push and extinguish all visible fire in the store. The captain of the first-due truck gives a negative for the primary search and warns members not to remove their masks. The battalion chief relieves the two engines and truck that operated in the store and orders that the engine motor pump operator (MPO) wash down those members with a fog line.

The chief gathers the members and points out what was burning in this everyday, typical fire. Among the combustibles were DranoT clog remover for pipes, CloroxT bleach, Black FlagT flying insect killer, TideT detergent, lighter fluid, shaving cream, ammonia cleaner, and toilet bowl cleaners, which exposed them to the following product components: caustic acid, chlorine, nerve agent, lye, butane and propane gas, ammonia gas, and phosgene gas.

One of the lieutenants also points out that carbon monoxide is a highly explosive gas as well as an airborne poison. The chief concludes this informal critique by pointing out to the firefighters that the U.S. Military uses positive pressure in its tanks and ships to protect its personnel from NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical) agents. Positive-pressure masks afford the same respiratory protection as those used by the military. The firefighters resume their overhauling duties and conclude that their personal protective equipment (PPE) affords them protection, even for some deadly chemical agents.

This fire scenario points out that by following a hazardous-materials protocol, firefighters will be protected from a chemical incident, whether it originates as an accident or a terrorist attack. Firefighters are the first line of defense against a terrorist attack and must have confidence in their equipment and their ability to function under the most trying conditions.

A good learning tool for all these training scenarios is a videotape of the responding companies’ operations. A review of the tape will bring out what was done correctly and what should be or could have been done differently. The one effect of a tape is that people, after watching their actions, often become aware of mistakes and determine what needs to be corrected. After a tape has been viewed and critiqued, a good practice is to discard it. Remember, videotape is a training tool and should not be used as a rating system. It should be used for educational purposes and never be allowed to embarrass a member or a unit. We as trainers should always work to be confidence builders, not detractors.

FIREFIGHTER CHALLENGE 1: THE SUBWAY

Terrorists enter the subway system through a subway emergency exit. The terrorists have an empty beer barrel half-filled with ricin liquid. The terrorists use a pump to put air in the barrel and then extend a spray bar over the track area. At 8 a.m., at the height of the rush hour, the terrorists release the ricin liquid through the spray bar. The liquid is now aerosolized and is being pushed through the subway system by the moving trains.

Environment

The temperature is 19°F. The wind is from the northeast at 10 mph, gusting to 20. It is sunny and blustery.

(1) Subway emergency exit is closed.

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Resources

Numerous terrorist activities are being reported throughout the city. Two engines, one truck, and one battalion chief respond to this incident for an “unknown liquid and funny ‘odor’ in the subway.”

Firefighter Response

On arrival of the first engine, several civilians coming out of the subway report having been exposed to a mist of liquid that smells funny.

• The lieutenant has already ordered all members to don PPE. He calls the chief and reports the incident.
• The chief orders all train traffic on this subway line halted.
• The chief orders the second engine to go to the second entrance/exit serving the same subway station and to direct the people out of the exit to the street.
• Because of the cold weather, the chief orders the truck to guide the affected civilians to a high-rise building for shelter.
• The chief orders the captain of the truck to contact the building engineer and the fire safety director.
• The captain orders the fire safety director to announce over the speaker system that all people in the building are not to use the lobby area; he tells the engineer that the fire department is going to activate the sprinkler system, secure the stairwells and lobby doors, and recall the elevators. Because of the high terrorist activity, mobile decon will not be available.

(2) Subway emergency exit is open. Note the red arrow pointing to the panic bar. (Photos by author unless otherwise noted.)

Members of the truck fuse several sprinkler heads in the lobby of the high-rise building. People who are contaminated are asked to walk through the sprinkler with their clothing on and then to remove their clothing and walk through an additional sprinkler without clothing. Building staff personnel provide different rooms or offices, isolating men and women. Fire department members isolate discarded clothing. The captain asks building personnel where the nearest hospital is and calls the hospital to obtain hospital gowns for the exposed civilians. Prepare for a mass-casualty incident.

Points Stressed

• Responding companies did not know whether they were responding to a biological agent or a chemical release. However, the responding members assumed that this was a distinct possibility and acted accordingly.
• Firefighters knew that they were probably not going to receive additional assistance and that the lives of several thousand people may have been at stake.
• The company officers took immediate action by having all members don PPE. The chief immediately reduced the hazardous environment by stopping train traffic: Moving trains generate 50 percent of all air circulation in the subway system.
• People were not allowed to leave the area and moved into decontamination showers in the form of fused sprinkler heads, in a heated building, while in subfreezing conditions.
• People who were not contaminated were kept away from the incident. A hot zone was created in the lobby of the high-rise building.

(3) Fire command station. Note the yellow arrow pointing to the speaker microphone. The lives of thousands of people may be saved by the quick action of a limited number of firefighters with few resources.

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Additional Points to Consider

To decon victims in bad weather, libraries, schools, museums, and churches can also be used as areas of refuge and decontamination stations. Many of these occupancies also have sprinklers. The first preference is a sprinklered building. The standpipe systems in high-rise buildings can also be used for decontamination. Use fog nozzles with low pressure.

Exterior speakers on fire apparatus can be used to guide people to the proper direction and location. Announcements can be made over the speaker system in the Fire Command Station in high-rise buildings.

Hospitals store thousands of gowns for patients, which can be used to clothe people after they have undergone decontamination. Hospitals are also good sources for radiation detection devices, if the fire forces do not have any. Technicians who work in the hospitals’ nuclear medicine department are also familiar with radiation detection equipment. In many urban areas, subway stops are connected into buildings. Contamination of the subway station may also contaminate the building.

Historical Perspective

The 1994 sarin attack in the Tokyo, Japan, subway system produced numerous fatalities and injuries. The incident would have been much worse had the terrorists been able to aerosolize the sarin liquid. Most of the sarin release resulted from the liquid spilled on the floor or thrown on the victims. The attack was compounded by the fact that the first responders were not properly equipped with PPE. There was cross-contamination between rescuers and victims. Sarin liquid was brought into ambulances and even into hospital emergency rooms. Decontamination proved to be a formidable operation after the attack.

Explosive devices are the weapons of choice for terrorists. Getting explosives into U.S. rail systems is relatively easy. New York City Transit moves close to three million people per workday on its rail systems. There are no metal detectors or checkpoints. People are allowed to bring luggage, briefcases, and backpacks. An explosive device could easily be hidden and detonated. The potential for an attack is high, particularly for bombings executed by suicide squads or individuals.

(5) “Cut-and-cover” method of construction. (Photo by New York City Transit Authority, circa 1902.)

Most underground railway systems in U.S. cities were constructed with the “cut-and-cover” method of tunnel construction. A ditch is dug; and stations, tracks, ventilating, and switching equipment are installed. The ditch is covered with steel beams, which are covered by concrete. Asphalt is used to cover over this area, creating streets. Some railway systems go under parks and buildings, but the right of way is primarily under streets. These tunnels are relatively shallow in depth. Ventilation grates serve as air exchanges. In the event of a bombing, grates, shafts, and station entrances may relieve some of the blast pressure.

(4) Sarin attack, Tokyo, Japan, subway. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice.)

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In contrast to underground tunnels, rail systems constructed under rivers go very deep. Tunnels are bored under the riverbed and do not lie on the bottom of the river. The tubes that are under the river are very strong, since they carry thousands of tons of weight above the tunnel. Because of this design, a bomb blast will be devastating, since the full force of the blast will be confined to the tunnel under the river. Picture a rifle discharging a bullet. The force of the projectile travels out of the gun’s barrel. The barrel retains the force until the bullet leaves the barrel. The same force would travel laterally in the explosion in a tunnel under the river. The lethal effects of a bomb blast under a river tunnel would be considerably more severe than one under land. Also, since underriver tunnels are long distances from exits, it would take more time for the rescuers to reach the victims.

FIREFIGHTING CHALLENGE 2: BOMBING IN A MOVIE THEATER

Fire communications receives numerous phone calls about a bomb detonated at a movie theater located in a mall complex. Numerous additional alarms are transmitted throughout the city for other explosions and haz-mat responses. Fire Dispatch sends two engines, one truck, and a chief to this incident.

Environment

The temperature is 50°F. The wind is calm. It is raining lightly.

Resources

Numerous terrorist activities are reported throughout the city. Police on the scene confirm an explosion at the movie theater in a mall complex. Two engines, one truck, and a battalion chief are responding.

Firefighter Response

Two minutes after the alarm is transmitted, the fire dispatcher, who has been trained in antiterrorism, cautions responders over the fire radio to be aware that there may be a possible second bomb detonation. All responding fire companies acknowledge the dispatcher’s warning. Several blocks from the movie theater, a member of the first-in engine tells the lieutenant that they shouldn’t use portable radios because its radio waves may set off any bombs that may be in the area. The lieutenant gives this information over the air. The fire dispatcher repeats the message not to use portable and apparatus radios within 150 yards of the movie and mall complex. On arrival, engine and truck personnel see the aftermath of the explosion. There are large volumes of dust, and some people are wandering in a daze. The first engine hooks up to a hydrant; the aerial ladder is raised to the roof.

• The chief, on entering the parking area in front of the theater, notices a panel truck parked near the entrance to the movie theater.
• The battalion firefighter uses the exterior speaker on the chief’s car to tell civilians to immediately leave the area. The injured are moved to the sides of the movie complex.
• The chief orders the truck captain to take his crew to the rear entrance of the movie theater and start search and evacuation from that area.
• The engine company is told to take rolled-up lengths of hose and go with the truck in the rear entrance. The second engine reports in to the chief.
• The chief orders that the second engine be positioned away from this location and stage away from the front of the movie theater.

All of a sudden, there is a huge devastating explosion. The panel truck was filled with explosives. Shrapnel injures several firefighters and damages the apparatus in front of the movie theater. Several cars are now burning in the parking lot, as the explosion rips open fuel tanks.

• The chief orders the second engine to use its deck gun to extinguish the car fires now raging in the parking lot.
• The members of the second engine stretch a 21/2-inch handline off a standpipe outlet in the mall and flank the fires opposite the engine using the deck gun.
• The chief asks for additional help and establishes a staging area away from the front of the complex.
• The truck is ordered to check the structure’s stability before resuming evacuation duties. The building withstood the additional damage.
• Additional companies arrive and are put to work. Triage is established. Members continue searching for victims. The later explosion resulted in no additional fatalities as members controlled and stabilized the site.

Points Stressed

A secondary event is a distinct possibility when there has been a bombing. The dispatcher must get acknowledgment of this fact from each of the responding fire companies. This information may possibly save firefighter lives.

The firefighter in the first engine remembered that explosives can be detonated by radio waves and reminded the lieutenant, who relayed the firefighter’s message to the dispatcher, who relayed the warning over the air.

The chief sized up the area. He did not get “tunnel vision” but observed the “Big Picture.” The casualties and devastation did not distract him. He saw the truck in front of the theater and had civilians and firefighters removed from the potential blast area. Structural stability after the second explosion was a top priority. A triage area at a safe location is also a major consideration.

Additional Points to Consider

Disconnecting utilities in a structure damaged by an explosion should be a high priority. Water buildup and severed electric wires in areas where people are trapped pose additional life hazards. Broken gas pipes feed a fire and may cause an additional explosion.

The reach of deck guns on fire apparatus will afford some degree of protection. Two and a half-inch hoselines have a reach of 60 feet vs. 40 feet for a 13/4-inch hoseline. By using a flanking maneuver to hit the fire in a damaged building, members may be outside the collapse zone should it collapse.

(6) Radio waves can detonate bombs. Shut off all radios and cell phones in the vicinity of an explosion. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice.)

Many military explosives are detonated by electrical impulse in the form of blasting caps. Claymore Mines and C-4 explosives are detonated in this fashion. Radio waves in the right frequency can detonate and have detonated explosives. Other explosives are detonated strictly by radio waves. It is always prudent to shut off radios in the vicinity of an explosive event. This applies also to cellphones.

Historical Perspective

Bombings in Israel, England, and Spain and the abortion clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, have specifically targeted first responders. Terrorists have a new mindset that suggests women, children, and rescue workers are now legitimate targets.

During World War II, Allied Air Forces destroyed German and Japanese cities by attacking fire apparatus and killing firefighters. A wave of bombers would fly over a city and drop incendiary bombs. Fire departments would respond to extinguish the fires. Fifteen minutes after the first wave, a second wave of bombers would drop high explosives, eliminating the fire forces. A third wave of bombers would drop more incendiary bombs, destroying the city.

The quickest way to destroy a city is to knock out the fire department and kill first responders.

FIREFIGHTING CHALLENGE 3: THE PIPE BOMB

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon; the members of the engine are finally sitting down to eat lunch. They have been busy all day responding to several automatic alarms and two false alarm bomb scares at the local high school. As the members sit down to eat, another alarm for the same school is received for a reported “bomb in the school.” As the members board the apparatus, the lieutenant turns around to the rig’s crew cab and tells the members to “stay focused.” Because of heavy fire traffic, Fire Dispatch sends one engine, one ladder, and a battalion chief to the school. As members approach the school, evacuation is already in progress. Some of the students appear to be amused that this is the third time they are evacuating the school.

Environment

It is 65°F. There is a light wind. It is sunny.

Resources

Because of the high fire activity throughout the city, one engine, one ladder, and one battalion chief are responding.

Firefighter Response

The lieutenant approaches the principal and asks him to find the custodian so he can open doors to rooms that are locked. (The bomb squad may not be available; immediate evacuation of the school is called for.) The truck enters the building and starts its search from the roof down. Two firefighters from the engine go with the custodian to the basement and begin to search the school from the basement up. In the basement, during the search, the younger firefighter discovers what appears to be a pipe bomb with the fuse half burnt and extinguished. He tells his partner, “It looks like some kid in the school thought he could make a bomb, but it fizzled.” The senior man, who is also a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve, yells for him to freeze where he is and not touch anything. The firefighter/marine sees a wire near the young firefighter’s feet. He recognizes it as a trip device and guides his partner to walk out backward. The senior firefighter turns off the junior man’s radio and tells him to have the lieutenant call the Bomb Squad. The senior firefighter suspects the pipe bomb has a mercury switch that will detonate if the bomb is tilted or moved. He also suspects that more bombs may be planted throughout the school.

• The chief asks for a full assignment to respond to the school and orders that apparatus radios, portable radios, and cell phones not be used within two blocks of the school.
• The chief expands the perimeter and has the students moved several blocks from the school.
• The Bomb Squad arrives with dogs and detection devices. It finds several more bombs and trip devices.

Points Stressed

The firefighters responding to this alarm thought that it, too, would be a false alarm. The senior firefighter immediately recognized that the school was booby-trapped and that a portable radio transmission could have detonated explosives in the building.

The fuse on this pipe bomb was a fake. A mercury switch would have detonated the bomb if the device were tilted.

The chief expanded his perimeter, asked for additional resources, and further evacuated the civilians. He also set up his command post away from the school.

Additional Points to Consider

Complacency and the unexpected get firefighters into trouble and indeed killed. The lieutenant told the members to “stay focused.” Firefighters should always expect the unexpected. What appeared to be another false alarm was a trap waiting to kill unsuspecting firefighters and police officers.

Firefighters are not trained or equipped to deal with explosive devices. The Bomb Squad should be called for explosive devices. If there will be a delay in the Bomb Squad’s arrival, nothing should be touched or moved. Evacuating civilians through safe exits should be the only operation.

Historical Perspective

During the Vietnam War, a substantial number of casualties were the direct result of booby traps in the forms of mines, trip wires, and command-detonated explosives.

The Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999, left 11 students dead. The school was laced with trip devices and pipe bombs.

FIREFIGHTING CHALLENGE 4: “DIRTY BOMB”

An alarm is received at 4 a.m. for an explosion in front of a hospital. Fire Dispatch sends a full assignment of two engines, two ladders, one rescue, and a battalion chief. Police on the scene confirm an explosion in front of the hospital with light damage to surrounding structures. Some vehicles have broken windows and flat tires. No fires are burning.

Environment

The temperature is 85°F. The wind is from the east at 10 mph.

Resources

A full first-alarm fire assignment responds because there is low fire activity throughout the city.

Firefighter Response

The chief suspects that this low-yield explosion could be a “dirty bomb,” a device used to put NBC agents into the air. The chief asks the dispatcher to have units approach the scene from the east. The city’s hazardous-materials unit is also requested to respond. The chief orders the rescue company to be prepared to use its radiation monitoring equipment when it arrives.

• On arrival, the chief sets up his command post uphill, upwind, and several hundred feet from the reported explosion.
• The chief orders the captain of the first-in ladder company to contact the hospital’s building engineer and have him shut down all vents into the mechanical equipment room and all the louvers and dampers serving the building.
• The rescue company immediately picks up radiation readings on its detectors.
• The hazardous-materials unit is already setting up a decontamination area away from the incident. Several police officers who have been exposed to radiation are taken to the decon area and washed down with water. The runoff water is contained for recovery.
• The chief asks the dispatcher to notify federal authorities. The chief advises all members that there may be chemical and biological dispersion in addition to radiation.
• Additional police respond and search for other bombs.
• Hospital personnel check the inside of the hospital with radiation detectors. The radiation readings are negative.
• The chief makes a judgment call not to evacuate the hospital at this time.

Points Stressed

Radiation monitoring should be done as a matter of course at low-yield explosions. The assumption should be that a low-yield explosion is meant to put NBC into the atmosphere.

The chief chose not to evacuate the hospital but to “defend in place,” which is an alternative for evacuation in the hazardous-materials protocol. As a precaution, whenever possible, relocate patients to sections of the building that are a safe distance away from the affected area.

Officers responding to suspected NBC incidents should consider getting a weather report. Wind, humidity, and temperature may affect strategy considerations and the outcome of operations.

Additional Points to Consider

Dirty bombs can be made from X-ray machines used in the construction industry. These devices use radiation to penetrate dense material and are used to test bridges, buildings, and structures.

Personnel should be rotated frequently to decrease exposure. “Time,” “Distance,” and “Shielding” should be followed at all times.

Biological agents may take days and even weeks to manifest themselves through symptoms. Detection of biological agents may be beyond the scope of a municipality. Federal response teams are available to deal with monitoring, detecting, and mitigating a biological attack.

Historical Perspective

The U.S. Navy uses exterior sprinklers and deluge nozzles to decontaminate its ships in an NBC attack. Water is a defense weapon readily available to the fire service.

Firefighting Challenge 5: Vacant Building Fire

It’s a hot summer day. Open fire hydrants are causing water problems throughout the city. A four-alarm fire has stripped the downtown area of fire companies. One engine company in the downtown area has not been committed to the fourth alarm. This company is alone in a 40-block area until additional companies can be brought in from outlying areas to cover the companies operating at the fourth alarm.

Environment

The temperature is 94°F. The wind is from the southeast at 15 mph. The humidity is 78 percent.

Resources

Mutual aid is relocating companies into the downtown area.

Firefighter Response

A youth enters quarters and reports a fire in an abandoned building around the corner. The company immediately responds to this verbal alarm. On entering the block, thick black smoke could be seen pushing out of several top-floor windows of this vacant six-story tenement. The lieutenant attempts to use the radio several times with the word “Urgent” to let Fire Dispatch know that the company is at a working fire. The lieutenant cannot get through because the radio is being used extensively for the fourth alarm. The lieutenant tells the engine MPO to hook up to the fire hydrant and get water and then to keep trying to contact the fire dispatcher.

• The lieutenant quickly surveys the interior of the building. There are no interior stairs. The lieutenant orders that a portable ladder be raised to the front fire escape.
• The members ascend the portable ladder and start stretching a 13/4-inch handline up the fire escape to the top floor.
• The lieutenant calls for water, and the company moves in through a window and starts hitting fire. The fire is in the cockloft area; the ceiling is collapsing around the engine, but the company is making progress.

(7) In vacant buildings, a fire in the basement can take over several floors within minutes. Firefighters on the top floor can be easily trapped. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice.)

In the cellar of the fire building, an arsonist has spilled 10 gallons of diesel fuel. He sees the firefighters operating on the top floor. The arsonist gets a road flare, ignites it, and throws it into the diesel fuel. There is a huge fireball as fire takes possession of the cellar and races up the building’s interior stair shaft. Because there are no doors or windows and holes in the floors, the fire takes possession of several floors within a matter of minutes.

• The MPO warns the firefighters to get out, but the fire is autoexposing up the fire escape. The members are trapped.
• The lieutenant announces “Mayday” over the portable radio.
• The MPO attempts to hit the fire with the deck gun, but the engine starts to draw a vacuum because of low water pressure.
• An officer in a tower ladder returning from the four-alarm hears the desperate Mayday calls and sees the smoke. He calls the dispatcher and relays that firefighters are trapped in the fire and gives the location. The fire dispatcher transmits the box and sends a full assignment.
• The lieutenant, trapped with his company, in a desperate move has the hoseline operated through the smoke out a window in the hope that someone will see them.
• The firefighters in the tower ladder enter the block and see the stream of water shooting out of the top floor through the heavy smoke. The tower is raised as fire autoexposes the outside of the entire building.
• The lieutenant orders the members to jump for the bucket of the tower ladder. The firefighters jump, one by one, into the bucket. One firefighter and the lieutenant are left. The last firefighter jumps for the bucket and cannot hang onto the tower railing. He falls six stories onto the concrete sidewalk below.

The lieutenant jumps for the tower; firefighters in the bucket hold onto him on the outside of the rail. The tower pulls away from the inferno. The firefighter who fell to the ground is taken to the hospital; he dies three days later.

Points Stressed

The terrorist purposely ignited this fire in the hope of killing firefighters. Engine companies should rarely operate alone in a vacant building fire. Trucks and engines must operate together for mutual protection. Truck companies should take reconnaissance for the engine. Firefighters should start looking for fire from the lowest floor up.

Committing handlines when there are no interior stairs in a heavily damaged building is not a good firefighting practice. The risk must be weighed against the result. Risking the lives of firefighters when there is no life hazard is less than professional and dangerous.

Holes and missing windows, doors, and stairs severely weaken structural integrity in a vacant building. Fire will race unchecked from floor to floor. The collapse of a vacant building is a distinct possibility. Firefighters should concentrate on occupied exposures and commit high-caliber streams to the vacant building.

Additional Points to Consider

Many firefighters throughout the United States have lost their lives in vacant buildings while looking for squatters. The vagrants who live in these structures usually know how to get out because they employ hidden entrances and escape routes. Armed drug dealers may use vacant buildings to sell their drugs. Many of these buildings are booby-trapped and pit bulls are used as guard dogs. A good size-up and reconnaissance should be done, and adequate resources should be on hand before deciding to fight a vacant building fire from the interior. Fire districts should establish a vacant building outside sign program for the safety of firefighters.

Historical Perspective

All through the 1950s and 1960s, when vacant buildings were becoming prevalent, fire departments viewed vacant building fires as a good training experience. This idea changed when firefighters were seriously injured and killed in vacant building fires. Collapse and partial collapse of vacant buildings caused spiraling injury rates and took a high toll on overtaxed fire departments. Domestic terrorism in the form of arson and harassment of firefighters at the fire scene required a change in tactics.

Firefighters faced domestic terrorism in the late 1960s and all through the 1970s. Tactics for decreasing the chances of being trapped in vacant buildings had to be devised and employed. Cities purchased tower ladders and aerial platforms to deal specifically with vacant building fires. High-caliber streams were used to knock down heavy fire from a safe vantage point.

Fire departments took steps to counter domestic terrorism. Tiller rigs and engines were covered. Window guards were installed on apparatus. Tool compartments were locked, and tools and nozzles were no longer carried in public view. Firefighters no longer rode the “back step” or sides of fire engines and trucks. New procedures were instituted for vacant building fires. Police escorted fire companies when missile-throwing or harassing situations were encountered. The chief and company officers were given the discretion not to enter a block if they felt their fire forces were going to be ambushed or trapped.

All these tactics and changes in procedures resulted in safer and more successful fire operations throughout the United States.

THE FUTURE

Tom Ridge, the head of Homeland Security, has stated, “Terrorism will be a problem for the United States for years and possibly as long as a decade.” Preparing for terrorism responses must become a way of life for the fire service.

The fire service has been accused of being slow to change. This statement is a myth. All through the 1960s and 1970s when domestic terrorism was raging, the fire service adapted and overcame the challenges presented. The fire service met the emergency medical services challenges that came with first responder duties. The fire service also met the hazardous-materials obligations with which it had to comply. As new tools and equipment were introduced, from thermal imaging cameras to satellite telemetry, firefighters trained and became expert in whatever technology came their way.

In the mid-1970s, Deputy Chief (ret.) Vincent Dunn of the Fire Department of New York suggested that members of fire companies go through their jurisdictions and take photos of hazardous buildings and buildings that had had fires and use the photos to drill and to create prefire plans. Technology has made it easier to take photographs and transmit them to other computers and locations. Digital cameras, scanners, and disposable cameras have made taking pictures second nature. Photos and videotapes can be used to prepare for a terrorist attack against target hazards within our nation’s communities.

Carry a disposable camera on the fire apparatus. When an unusual or potentially dangerous situation is observed, take a picture. All units responding on the first alarm should be given copies of these photos for inclusion in a prefire plan.

The U.S. fire service will be the premier response agency for rescue, stabilization, and control in the aftermath of a terrorist event. Firefighters will meet any challenge, whether it involves major cities or the smallest communities. The traditions of the fire service—continued preparation, intense training, and eternal vigilance—will ensure our success as we face terrorism in our nation.

References

1. Dunn, Vincent. Collapse of Burning Buildings: A Guide to Fireground Safety. (New York: PennWell, 1988).

2. Emergency Response to Terrorism: Basic Concepts: Fire & EMS. U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs, National Fire Academy-Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1997.

3. “Could a Small Crew Have Saved the Stark, or the Samuel B. Roberts?” Proceedings, United States Naval Institute 124.10, Oct. 1998: 1-15.

ANDREW M. TRABANCO is a retired captain from the Fire Department of New York, where he had served for 27 years. He was a deputy fire safety director at the World Trade Center at the time of the 9-11-01 attacks. He is an FDNY instructor in terrorism response for the Department of Justice. He has written manuals for FDNY on ladder company operations and subway fires. He is a Vietnam War veteran and has a B.S. degree in fire science from Empire State College.