Firefighters were filmed restraining a man on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport after an emergency landing caused by a passenger’s suspicious behavior.
October 10, 2021 – By Elizabeth Keogh – Source New York Daily News
First responders swarmed LaGuardia Airport on Saturday when a New York-bound flight made an emergency landing over a passenger’s suspicious behavior, officials said.
American Airlines Flight 4817 from Indianapolis — operated by Republic Airways — landed at LaGuardia just after 3 p.m. after a “security incident,” the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority Police Department said.
People aboard the craft reported suspicious and erratic behavior from a passenger in the air, said Port Authority spokesman Tom Topousis.
The pilot then radioed air traffic control to clear the runway for an emergency landing.
Passengers disembarked the plane by emergency slides onto LaGuardia’s Runway 4 just short of the plane’s intended gate, Topousis and other officials said.
As the plane was evacuated, firefighters attended to a man facedown on the runway as confused travelers mulled about the tarmac, video shot by a passenger and posted to Twitter shows.
Port Authority officers responded to the airport and cleared the situation. All 78 passengers and four crew members were safely removed from the aircraft, officials said.
There were no injuries.
The suspicious passenger was taken into custody and was still being questioned around 6 p.m., authorities said.
The PAPD is still investigating the incident, officials said.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore told lawmakers that the agency needs to reconfigure how it mitigates the risk of intensifying wildfires.
October 01, 2021 – By Erin B. Logan – Source Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Forest Service needs to hire more firefighters and reconfigure how it mitigates the risk of wildfires that are growing more intense, the head of the agency told lawmakers Wednesday.
This year “has been devastating in not only the size and frequency of large wildfires but also in terms of sustained activity,” U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore testified before the House Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.
Moore blamed the severity of recent fire seasons on extreme drought, a warming climate and a century of “overly aggressive suppression policies” that have made forests ripe for more destructive fires.
As of Monday, about 46,000 fires have burned nearly 6 million acres across the West this year, destroying 4,500 structures and killing four federal firefighters this year, Moore said.
About 27,000 firefighters have been deployed by the federal government to fight wildfires this year, but they are still stretched thin. The problem reached a critical point this summer when a burst of early wildfires began in the West amid extreme staffing shortages. A combination of low pay, competition from state and local fire departments and exhaustion from longer and more destructive fire seasons has left federal agencies scrambling to fill positions.
Randy Moore, Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.
“We have seen highly trained personnel leave the Forest Service; we have experienced some inability to recruit new employees; and we are in a constant mode of training new employees,” Moore said in prepared testimony.
The Biden administration this year boosted the minimum wage from $13 to $15 per hour, enabling the federal government to attract firefighters in states like California and Washington where pay was higher.
“Federal wages for firefighters have not kept pace with wages offered by state, local and private entities in some areas of the United States,” Moore said in written testimony. “Firefighters must be fairly paid for the grueling work they are willing to take on.”
Moore told the Los Angeles Times last week that “we’ll never be able to hire enough firefighters to fight our way out of what’s going on on the landscape. We’re seeing conditions out there that I have not seen in my 40-plus years of working for this agency.”
Last year, California recorded its largest fire season ever. The severe impact these fires have on communities is partly because of the historic approach American officials have taken to eliminating fires.
Before Europeans colonized North America, many Western forests benefited from frequent, low-intensity fires caused by lightning and Indigenous burning practices, experts say. Post-colonization, U.S. officials instead aggressively suppressed fires, upending that beneficial cycle, and helped create an imbalance that makes wildfires more dangerous and more intense.
The forest chief told lawmakers that his agency would instead focus on mitigating the impact of wildfires by more aggressively treating forests before fires begin. Such treatments include thinning underbrush and debris, and clearing dead branches and trees to reduce potential fuel for blazes. Moore testified that such treatments near Lake Tahoe helped stymie the spread of the Caldor fire last month, saving homes and lives.
Moore said about 66 million acres need to be treated, but officials could be nearly as effective if they focus on 20 million critical acres over the next decade.
“We must actively treat forests,” he said. “That’s what it takes to turn this system around.”
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., said West Coast forests are “in a crisis mode” and that there is no longer a fire season, but a fire year. The federal government needs to devote more financial resources to help the agency shift away from fire suppression to prescribed treatments, Costa said.
“If we continue in this way, I don’t think we are ever going to deal with the crisis or provide the forests with the proper management they deserve.”
Jason Collier has taken over as fire chief in his hometown of Meridian, saying his main goals are increasing diversity and listening to his firefighters.
September 15, 2021 – By Bianca Moorman – Source The Meridian Star, Miss.
Sep. 15—Jason Collier became a firefighter because he wanted to give back to his hometown.
“When I first started, I was in awe of people in positions like mine,” said the City of Meridian’s new fire chief. “I always had the ambition, but I never thought I would get the opportunity.”
Collier, who has 25 years of experience in firefighting, replaces Ricky Leister, who retired in the spring. He’s been in firefighting since graduating from Meridian High School in 1995.
“I started in July of ’96 when I was 19,” he recalled. “I started out as a volunteer firefighter when I was 17 out in Bailey, and I really liked it.”
Since then, he’s served as a firefighter, driver, captain, fire marshal and deputy fire chief. Collier has spent most of his career in Meridian, besides an 18 month stint on the Gulf Coast.
Collier said he returned to Meridian because he missed his hometown and his firefighters.
“I wanted to come back…I hated being away from the fire department,” he said. “Even though I worked for another fire department, it wasn’t the same. This a real special place — we are like family and we take care of each other.”
“They are like my second family and I will do anything for them,” Collier added. “Your fellow firefighters make this the best job, because you really looking forward to coming to work.”
As far as goals, Collier aims to improve insurance rates, provide more training and bring the department to full capacity. The department has hired several new firefighters, so meeting full capacity is not far from reach, he said.
Collier also wants to improve the department’s diversity.
“I would like to have a more diverse fire department,” he said. “More female firefighters and more minorities.”
Firefighter Eric McCurty said that since Collier became chief, he’s made it a priority to listen to his colleagues’ concerns.
“He’s been already running the show for the while,” McCurty said of Collier’s leadership. “It’s awesome.”
Firefighter Nathaniel Greggs agrees.
“It’s great we’ve got someone we can rely on and trust,” he said.
For his part, Collier is enjoying his new role.
“I’m definitely humbled,” he said. “I feel like I’ve followed what the Lord has done for me in my life and career…He’s brought me to this position.”
(c)2021 The Meridian Star (Meridian, Miss.)
Visit The Meridian Star (Meridian, Miss.) at meridianstar.com
The nearly $3 billion to compensate police, firefighters and others injured responding to the 9/11 attacks is part of a $3.5 trillion federal spending proposal.
September 10, 2021 – By Jonathan D. Salant For NJ.com
The $3.5 trillion spending bill now making its way through the U.S. House will include $2.9 billion to compensate police officers, firefighters and others injured responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. said Thursday.
The money would go to shore up the 9/11 World Trade Center Health Program, which permanently was extended in 2019 along with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which provides financial help for injured first responders.
The bill was named for James Zadroga, a New York City police officer from North Arlington who died of a respiratory disease attributed breathing in dust at the World Trade Center site after 9/11.
It also was named for two other first responders who died after 9/11, Ray Pfeifer, a New York City firefighter, and Luis Alvarez, a New York City police officer.
But with the fund now running out of cash, Pallone said additional money will be included in the section of the bill being drafted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which he chairs.
“As we prepare to remember the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country, we must renew our commitment to never forget the sacrifices first responders made on that day and the survivors who continue to endure the physical and emotional trauma,” said Pallone, D-6th Dist.
“We can never fully repay the debt of gratitude we owe to responders and survivors, but we can make sure that we do all we can to make sure they have access to the medical care they rightfully deserve.”
Other House committees are writing different sections of the legislation, which will address child care, health care, education, climate change and the Republican tax law’s $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes.
Congressional Democratic leaders plan to pass the measure, a top priority of President Joe Biden, under a process known as reconciliation, which will prevent Senate Republicans from filibustering the measure and allow it to get through Congress by a majority vote in both houses.
The Father’s Day Fire, 9/11, Superstorm Sandy and COVID-19 triggered evolutions to the FDNY in ways expected and otherwise.
September 11, 2021 – Thomas Richardson – Firehouse.com
The FDNY’s 20-year journey since Sept. 11, 2001, has been challenging and emotional—and the impetus for self-reflection as an organization.
Father’s Day, June 17, 2001
The FDNY responds to approximately 4,000 medical emergencies and 1,500 fires and other emergencies every day. On a typical day in New York City, we might have as many as a dozen working structural fires. Father’s Day 2001 was no different, except for the fact that we experienced a tragic fire in a commercial building and lost Firefighter John Downing, Firefighter Brian Fahey and Firefighter Harry Ford, when a massive explosion occurred about 30 minutes into the operation at the building.
Why do I begin by mentioning this fire? The members who were on scene that day were faced with a chaotic, emotional situation yet continued to operate to recover our brother firefighters. This started the process of making some needed change within our department as well as in the fire and building codes in New York City (NYC). We learned much and persevered moving forward.
September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2,977 souls were murdered by 19 hijackers, inclusive of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the site at Shanksville, PA.
The FDNY is a large and robust organization that’s capable of responding to and handling just about any emergency. Admittedly, we were humbled on 9/11. We needed assistance. We lost several of our senior leaders, including our Chief of Department Peter Ganci Jr. With several hundred members missing and two 110-story buildings completely collapsed and still burning, we needed to quickly adapt, improvise and overcome. I can say proudly that we were able to do that but with a lot of assistance. We are rather good at incident command for most fires and emergencies, but for an event that was as large and as complex as 9/11, we needed to learn from others.
Early on, an incident management team (IMT) from the state of Alaska came to assist to establish and organize a solid framework for command moving forward for several months. We learned what an IMT is and how valuable a formalized expanded incident command system structure would be. We were introduced to the incident action plan concept for long-term events. We learned how really important a unified command structure is and of the value of building relationships with other agencies and partners.
The FDNY hired the consulting firm McKinsey & Company to study our response to 9/11. The firm produced a report that focused on how to increase the FDNY’s preparedness moving forward. Key recommendations that were in the report included: significantly improve our communications infrastructure and radio systems; develop technology to instantly account for members who operate on scene of fires and emergencies; build an automatic recall capability to enable the department to quickly bring in off-duty members when faced with a complex, long-duration incident; and develop a state-of-the-art Fire Department Operations Center (FDOC) to be a central node for situational awareness and reporting to senior leaders and field commanders.
One of the most rewarding relationships that resulted from the 9/11 attacks is the partnership with all of the branches of the military. The military has played a large role in the FDNY’s professional development and leadership programs. This relationship continues to evolve and is stronger than ever.
Superstorm Sandy
Superstorm Sandy hit the NYC tri-state area on Oct. 29, 2012. We experienced what essentially was a conflagration in the southernmost part of the city. NYC had 43 fatalities. Sixty-five hundred patients had to be evacuated from certain hospitals and nursing homes; 90,000 buildings were in the inundation zone; 2 million New Yorkers were without power; numerous major transit hubs flooded.
Eleven years after 9/11, little did we know that much of what we learned from 9/11 would be the foundation for future major emergency responses.
If that wasn’t enough, a strong nor’easter hit the east coast nine days later.
Many of our members were severely affected, losing their home and belongings. A fire lieutenant who lived in South Queens in Rockaway would receive the highest medal of valor that we award. He and his teenage son donned wetsuits and, using surfboards, rescued 25 people as houses were engulfed by fire.
Photo credit FDNY
Much of the planning that was done to prepare for major storms would come to fruition. We were able to sustain continuity of operations even amid the circumstance whereby many of our firehouses and EMS stations were being flooded.
Once again, the FDNY learned and adapted its capabilities. We truly understood the benefit of decentralizing command. Headquarters served as an area command, and our five borough commanders that were closest to the boots on the ground managed their resources to accomplish the mission.
We expanded our swiftwater capabilities within our Special Operations Command. We added high-axle vehicles. Several units that are located in flood zones received training in the use of flat-bottomed boats to access flooded areas.
Prior to Superstorm Sandy, the IMT only operated outside of the city at other major events around the country. Sandy was the IMT’s first major deployment within NYC, and it performed several different missions admirably.
COVID-19 Pandemic
The first pandemic memo that we in the FDNY published to our members was on Jan. 28, 2020. It basically gave a brief synopsis of what was happening in Wuhan, China, and that we would need to prepare for those who were traveling from that region.
The first case of COVID-19 in NYC was reported on March 1, 2020. The FDNY had two major concerns: Do we have enough PPE and how will our workforce be affected? Will we be able to maintain continuity of operations if a large part of our workforce becomes sick?
FDNY Chief of Department John Sudnik requested that our Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness prepare an executive-level tabletop exercise to play out the scenario. This occurred on March 10, 2020. As the case load in the city started to mount and more of our members became sick, we adapted by changing the work schedules of firefighters, EMTs and paramedics to maintain adequate staffing levels. FDNY Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Prezant was our guiding force when it came to appropriate levels of PPE and on what members should wear to protect themselves. The IMT was put in charge of managing our PPE inventories. Our Management, Analysis and Planning Unit (MAP) was tasked with creating electronic dashboards for senior executives to use to manage staffing, PPE, unit activity, medical leave rates and other metrics.
Photo Credit FDNY
At the height of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, specifically early April, our Bureau of EMS had a day with 6,500 medical responses (on a normal day, it does 4,000). In NYC, we average about 60–70 cardiac arrest calls each day; during this time, we saw 250–300 per day. Our members saw a lot of death. We have a young workforce, particularly in our Bureau of EMS. This no doubt had a significant effect on our members. In fact, regretfully, we had a couple of suicides. Our Counseling Service Unit, which in my opinion is the best in the business, was overwhelmed by the situation.
We modified responses to medical calls for our fire units to try to preserve the workforce. This was a priority strategy for us. Our medical leave rate normally is about 7 percent on any given day. At the height of the pandemic, we were close to 20 percent. To date, we have had more than 7,000 members contract COVID and take medical leave at some point. This represents about 50 percent of our fire and EMS workforce. Sadly, 15 of the FDNY—six uniformed members (one firefighter, five EMS) and nine civilian support staff employees—lost their life because of COVID. We also remember Paramedic Paul Carey from Colorado Springs, who answered our call for help from outside of NYC, who passed away because he contracted COVID.
Remarkably, no FDNY frontline responder who works on an ambulance or in a fire company died from COVID.
Even with the staffing and schedule modifications, our members worked a lot, and we knew that this wasn’t a healthy recipe, but we knew that we had to continue to perform our mission.
So, what did we learn? We know we didn’t get everything right.
We had an existing Pandemic Response Plan that was very detailed. As we evolved throughout this pandemic, we dusted off the plan and revised it. This was done methodically, with the guidance of our medical professionals. We used data extensively. We constantly reminded ourselves that we had a mission and had to continue to meet that mission.
Our relationship with the labor unions was a key factor in being able to make changes on the fly to sustain staffing and service. I certainly won’t say that we didn’t experience bumps in the road, but the FDNY and the unions were able to work together for the greater good.
Arguably, the key to making it through the pandemic was communication. It had to be timely, it had to be accurate, and, most importantly, it had to be transparent. Our members essentially were bombarded with information every day, sometimes several times a day. In fact, we finally decided that all messages would be transmitted at the same time each day because of the volume of information and guidance that we put out. The unions’ use of their platforms to message the membership was helpful. Our IMT Public Information Officer function was invaluable, helping us to draft regular updates to be disseminated to the field.
Technology became a very important tool in communicating with the field. As Chief of Operations at the time, I was able to use a Webex platform to communicate in real time to the on-duty field units with important information and, very importantly, my leader’s intent. As senior executives, we often are accused of not being in touch with the boots on the ground. We wanted the troops to know how much we cared about them and that all of us who were working in headquarters were committed to making sure that they had what they needed to do their job and that they were being heard.
One of the things that I felt was most helpful was when we deployed our senior executives to visit firehouses and EMS stations to personally visit with the troops—taking questions and hearing the members’ concerns. The most frequent concerns that were expressed by the members, particularly at the height of the pandemic, were the lack of available COVID testing and the worry about members bringing the virus home to their family. We eventually were able to provide testing capability, and NYC did institute a hotel program for members.
One of the best definitions of resilience is “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress.” I would argue that the fire and EMS service along with the health care profession took resilience to another level.
Moving forward
Responding to and managing major crises is challenging, emotional and absolutely stressful. In my humble opinion, we need a set of guiding principles to be successful. We can’t always predict the outcomes, but we certainly can affect process.
These claims definitely can assist our organizations in beginning to discuss how to prepare for these events that we call, generally, crises or disasters.
In conclusion, I present to you the triangle, which is the strongest of geometric shapes. If one side fails, the triangle collapses. We all know that a strong foundation is critical. Throughout these past 20 years, I believe that our foundation has remained strong and maybe even became stronger as a first responder community. Along the way, we have developed relationships and networks that provide support at all levels—organizationally, strategically and tactically.
With a strong foundation, a willingness to self-reflect and understanding of our guiding principles as individuals and as organizations, we can sustain a focus on our mission to serve.
Guiding Principles
Preparedness: Sounds easy, but it isn’t. It requires commitment, not only individually, but collectively as an organization. It starts at the top. An organization that’s committed to being prepared must get buy-in from the troops. It’s a daily routine of being prepared, not only for the major incident. If we have a preparedness mindset, it’s easier to be ready when disaster strikes.
Trust: Everything that we do in this business is about trust—trust in oneself and trust in one another. If we don’t have trust, we don’t have relationships. Without relationships, we can’t accomplish the mission.
Respect: Respect for others, respect for differing opinions and views. Very simply, if we treat people with respect, they might be more willing to listen to our ideas. Organizationally, we must have the utmost respect for our workforce, for without them we don’t exist.
Teamwork: As all of you know, there is no “i” in team. To be a cohesive team, we must have mutual respect and trust in one another. The very essence of the work that we do is incumbent on the success of the team. This should be preached by leadership constantly.
Moral Imperative: When we all raised our right hands to be first responders, we should have understood the moral imperative that we are expected to adhere to. We have a duty to act, a duty to respond, and a duty to be prepared to the best of our ability. This can’t be taken lightly. I believe this is a key principle in our business.
