HEATHER CASPI
Firehouse.com News
FDNY's Battalion Chief John J. Salka, Jr. asked Firehouse Expo
attendees the question, "Is Your City the Next Ground Zero?" at his
talk last week in Baltimore.
Salka discussed his ideas about steps that fire departments can take
to prepare for terrorist activity near their homes.
"Has your fire department changed since 9/11?" he asked.
Few people raised their hands. Even fewer responded when he asked for
dramatic, substantial changes.
"We have to make changes. It's obvious we have to make changes," he said.
Salka asked the crowd if there was any possibility of a terrorist
attack in each person's city, or if an attack elsewhere could cause
damage or destruction to those cities, or if the cities could serve
as a launch pad or planning site for an attack, or have weapons
transported nearby.
"If the answer is yes, you need to be doing something about it rather
than talking about it," he said.
Salka came up with general ideas for preparation, which he said
should be built on or varied depending on any department's needs and
resources.
His main suggestion is that departments establish a bureau or
division that specifically and solely deals with terrorism, from
training to equipping and deploying, with sub units for specific
elements of terrorism.
He also stressed that good people should be put in charge of the
terrorism division, and that they be should be ranked as staff chiefs
with heavy decision making power. This should not be a project for a
retired firefighter or the explorer program, he said.
The terrorism response team, or TRT, would have four members
including people from EMS,fire and hazmat. They would go to incidents
just to investigate the cause and see if there is any terrorist
element to them. They should also monitor the news for reports and
witnesses of the incident, and inform the field personnel about what
they hear.
Salka said that ironically, fire officials at the World Trade Center
attacks often knew less about the fires than people watching the news
at home, because they didn't have nearly as good a view or variety of
views. The TRT should not be a back up unit.
He suggests that the TRT have a response vehicle with communications
and TV equipment, monitoring equipment for gases and hazardous
materials, and binoculars.
Since the World Trade Center attacks, Salka also believes fire
departments should do more site-specific training.
"If you don't learn something at an event like that, you're not
paying attention," he said.
