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When is a Terrorist not a Terrorist?
One nice sunny morning, Tones go out. Station 12, Chief 12, Battalion 21, Engine 12, Squirt 12, Engine 36, Engine 32, Rescue12, Hazmat 32, as well as, the police have been dispatched. There’s been a report of a suspicious suit case in a Condo lobby area. Before 911, we had some of these calls, and 25 years ago, we never received any of these types of calls and if we did, we just walked up and opened the suit case to look for a name tag and returned it to the rightful owner. Wow! Things have changed since 1979. Now in the wake of 911, we are all on guard to our surroundings. We follow all of our Departments SOP’s and or The FBI’s set guidelines regarding these types of calls.
We now have to try to find out, if this is a real explosive device, or just another absent minded little old lady that forgot her suit case. Many things come into play. Is this building a High terrorist target Government building, sports complex, a building with political ties to the government, or a soft target, and has the building received any bomb threats lately, or any reported disputes between husbands and wives, etc?
We have to use the tools we have on hand, to make a hard judgment call, otherwise, each Engine Company will need its own bomb squad.
1st. Know your area. Have a good relationship with your local Police Department, as well as, The Office of Homeland Security; have them update you on all FBI warnings, any and all bomb threats, anything that may throw up a red flag. The police don’t work 24-7 nor do we make each and every call. Having daily updates on the area may influence your decision making.
2nd. Just like a fire, we all have fire preplans on buildings in our district but do we have preplans for a terrorist attack? Unless you’re in New York, Washington D.C., Miami or any other metropolitan parts of the country, where there are many high risk targets, most smaller town’s terrorism preplans may leave a lot to be desired. Therefore, preplan all buildings in your district and keep as an attachment to your fire preplans.
3rd. What are High Target buildings? The White House is a High Target Building, so was the WTC, and so on. But I live and work in a small town near the beach in sunny Florida. Who would want to bomb this little town, we’re not a target for terrorism? Well, within 300 feet of our station, we had three of the hijackers that went down in 911 living here. We may not have been the target, but if a terrorist lives here, he or she maybe building a bomb to use someplace else. What if he was not a good bomb maker and it went off while he was working on it, or he was overcome by a deadly gases? Just like a car wreck, we check for hazards i.e. downed power lines etc. So even on medical calls, keep an open mind for terrorism. Days following 911, the FBI sent out an Alert for ALL Fire Departments regarding terrorists wanting to steal fire trucks. Shortly after, we had a call at 03:00 hours for wires down. We get them all the time, no big deal! Well wrong, while looking at all the considerations: the FBI warning, the weather that early morning was clear, 75 degrees, and 0 winds, located in the middle of a block that was not known for car wrecks, and the address was 30 feet from our City Hall. Now, add up all these considerations on this simple wires down call. Do you handle this the same way you would have before! NO you don’t! What are your preplans, SOP’s for a simple wires down call now? The rules of engagement have changed.
4th. TRAINING. We all have our firefighting skills up to par, but I am sure there are many firefighters out there without any anti terrorism training. Most fire schools offer a class, as well as, FEMA and even, online computer training is available too. Please take advantage of these tools.
5th. Not all terrorists come from Iraq. We also have our own homegrown terrorists that may live right next door to you now. You’d never know. Even in a small town where we like to think everybody knows one another and sometimes knows too much. Until something happens, we really don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors, do we? Believe me when I say, if I knew there were three terrorists living 300 feet from my fire station, that wanted to kill 343 of my brothers, I would have figured out one more way to use my Halagan Tool! In essence, they must have shopped at my local supermarket, purchased their airline tickets at my travel agent, maybe even purchased box cutters at the same hardware store where I spend half my day. Every time I think that these assassins may have been standing next to me in line to purchase something, it really angers me. I should have known! I am trained! I know everybody in town! Do you live next door to a terrorist too?
After reviewing all of the above factors, its time for you to make the call. Do we get bomb and arson out code 3 and start evacuating the building and the area? Or, if you’re from the old school, do we send in THE PROBIES and have them open the suit case first? Kicking it works well too! Maybe, send in the police to do that, if they were smart they would be firefighters too. Well, no luck. The cops, they ran the other way, and you only have salty old firefighters sitting on your rigs, smoking cigars just waiting for you to make the call.
The Thermal Imagining Camera may come into play. A lot of fire departments forget they have this tool sitting in a compartment on their rigs these days. The camera will not tell you if the suit case is loaded with C-4 or any other type of explosive, but it can tell you of a power supply (battery), a mechanical device, radio receiver, timer device, all will produce a heat source. NOTE. This is NOT always the case, but if you find a hot spot on a suit case or package, something may be causing it to get warm. Even a cellular phone will generate some type of heat. This should be a factor in your decision making too.
By NO means, am I telling anyone what to do, but I implore you to use ALL the tools in your tool box and follow all department SOP’s, as well as, FEMA’s training and set guidelines as well. Remember, the rules of engagement have changed!
Mark E. Conn
Battalion Chief
Lauderdale by the Sea Fire Department
One nice sunny morning, Tones go out. Station 12, Chief 12, Battalion 21, Engine 12, Squirt 12, Engine 36, Engine 32, Rescue12, Hazmat 32, as well as, the police have been dispatched. There’s been a report of a suspicious suit case in a Condo lobby area. Before 911, we had some of these calls, and 25 years ago, we never received any of these types of calls and if we did, we just walked up and opened the suit case to look for a name tag and returned it to the rightful owner. Wow! Things have changed since 1979. Now in the wake of 911, we are all on guard to our surroundings. We follow all of our Departments SOP’s and or The FBI’s set guidelines regarding these types of calls.
We now have to try to find out, if this is a real explosive device, or just another absent minded little old lady that forgot her suit case. Many things come into play. Is this building a High terrorist target Government building, sports complex, a building with political ties to the government, or a soft target, and has the building received any bomb threats lately, or any reported disputes between husbands and wives, etc?
We have to use the tools we have on hand, to make a hard judgment call, otherwise, each Engine Company will need its own bomb squad.
1st. Know your area. Have a good relationship with your local Police Department, as well as, The Office of Homeland Security; have them update you on all FBI warnings, any and all bomb threats, anything that may throw up a red flag. The police don’t work 24-7 nor do we make each and every call. Having daily updates on the area may influence your decision making.
2nd. Just like a fire, we all have fire preplans on buildings in our district but do we have preplans for a terrorist attack? Unless you’re in New York, Washington D.C., Miami or any other metropolitan parts of the country, where there are many high risk targets, most smaller town’s terrorism preplans may leave a lot to be desired. Therefore, preplan all buildings in your district and keep as an attachment to your fire preplans.
3rd. What are High Target buildings? The White House is a High Target Building, so was the WTC, and so on. But I live and work in a small town near the beach in sunny Florida. Who would want to bomb this little town, we’re not a target for terrorism? Well, within 300 feet of our station, we had three of the hijackers that went down in 911 living here. We may not have been the target, but if a terrorist lives here, he or she maybe building a bomb to use someplace else. What if he was not a good bomb maker and it went off while he was working on it, or he was overcome by a deadly gases? Just like a car wreck, we check for hazards i.e. downed power lines etc. So even on medical calls, keep an open mind for terrorism. Days following 911, the FBI sent out an Alert for ALL Fire Departments regarding terrorists wanting to steal fire trucks. Shortly after, we had a call at 03:00 hours for wires down. We get them all the time, no big deal! Well wrong, while looking at all the considerations: the FBI warning, the weather that early morning was clear, 75 degrees, and 0 winds, located in the middle of a block that was not known for car wrecks, and the address was 30 feet from our City Hall. Now, add up all these considerations on this simple wires down call. Do you handle this the same way you would have before! NO you don’t! What are your preplans, SOP’s for a simple wires down call now? The rules of engagement have changed.
4th. TRAINING. We all have our firefighting skills up to par, but I am sure there are many firefighters out there without any anti terrorism training. Most fire schools offer a class, as well as, FEMA and even, online computer training is available too. Please take advantage of these tools.
5th. Not all terrorists come from Iraq. We also have our own homegrown terrorists that may live right next door to you now. You’d never know. Even in a small town where we like to think everybody knows one another and sometimes knows too much. Until something happens, we really don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors, do we? Believe me when I say, if I knew there were three terrorists living 300 feet from my fire station, that wanted to kill 343 of my brothers, I would have figured out one more way to use my Halagan Tool! In essence, they must have shopped at my local supermarket, purchased their airline tickets at my travel agent, maybe even purchased box cutters at the same hardware store where I spend half my day. Every time I think that these assassins may have been standing next to me in line to purchase something, it really angers me. I should have known! I am trained! I know everybody in town! Do you live next door to a terrorist too?
After reviewing all of the above factors, its time for you to make the call. Do we get bomb and arson out code 3 and start evacuating the building and the area? Or, if you’re from the old school, do we send in THE PROBIES and have them open the suit case first? Kicking it works well too! Maybe, send in the police to do that, if they were smart they would be firefighters too. Well, no luck. The cops, they ran the other way, and you only have salty old firefighters sitting on your rigs, smoking cigars just waiting for you to make the call.
The Thermal Imagining Camera may come into play. A lot of fire departments forget they have this tool sitting in a compartment on their rigs these days. The camera will not tell you if the suit case is loaded with C-4 or any other type of explosive, but it can tell you of a power supply (battery), a mechanical device, radio receiver, timer device, all will produce a heat source. NOTE. This is NOT always the case, but if you find a hot spot on a suit case or package, something may be causing it to get warm. Even a cellular phone will generate some type of heat. This should be a factor in your decision making too.
By NO means, am I telling anyone what to do, but I implore you to use ALL the tools in your tool box and follow all department SOP’s, as well as, FEMA’s training and set guidelines as well. Remember, the rules of engagement have changed!
Mark E. Conn
Battalion Chief
Lauderdale by the Sea Fire Department
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