When the call came into the Charleston, WV, Fire Department in August 2017, it was described as a "routine" medical emergency, the kind firefighters regularly respond to during their shifts without worrying about the potential for any violence.
An ambulance was dispatched to the city's west side, but instead of finding a patient needing help, firefighters were greeted with gunfire.
"There were multiple rounds fired, but the ambulance was only struck once," Lt. David Hodges, the department's EMS director, told Firehouse.com. "But (the firefighters) were able to retreat and make it to a nearby station. However, we immediately started pursuing the body armor topic."
Firefighters becoming targets of violence prompted Charleston to spend a little less than $70,000 in surplus city funds to make ballistic vests standard PPE in the department. The need to keep first responders safe while they protect the public has prompted other departments to consider similar purchases, especially following the civil unrest around the country in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.
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This summer, firefighters in Rochester, NY, and Columbia, SC, were injured when they were caught in the middle of violent confrontations while responding to emergency and fire calls during protests and riots. Firecrackers and bottles also were thrown at crews in Atlanta, Cleveland and Grand Rapids, MI.
In Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois, a peaceful protest was held at the police department at the end of May, but the demonstration deteriorated as crowds moved downtown, said Battalion Chief Jim Rhodes. Stores were looted, and fires were set to police squad cars, dumpsters and businesses.
"I was there for that night, as well. It was surreal, almost like in a movie," Rhodes said.
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While firefighters weren't shot at, rocks and other objects were thrown at them, damaging vehicles.
"Our guys during that time—and this is something that we wouldn't normally do— they were wearing these ballistic vests under their bunker gear," Rhodes added.
Last year, the Aurora Fire Department purchased 60 vests and helmets for its members months after an active-shooter situation in the city. Six people, including the shooter, were killed and six others injured in the incident at Henry Pratt Company on Feb. 15, 2019.
Although the vests—which cost the city nearly $86,500—weren't acquired until after the shooting, plans already had been set in motion as part of ongoing rescue task force team training between fire and police departments.
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"It's testament to our firefighters," said Rhodes, who was one of the first-arriving units at the scene. "Our guys went in with the training they had with our police departments. Unfortunately, we didn't have the equipment. But our guys knew that, and without hesitation … There was no issue about, 'I don't want to go in.' It was kind of the opposite. 'We'll go in. What do you need us to do?' ... Given the situation, when we were there, you could still hear the gunshots going off, and there was a lot of uncertainty."
Before Charleston's 2017 shooting incident, each of the department's ambulances carried expired ballistic vests from the Charleston Police Department. By early to mid-2018, all of the department's 169 members had their own vests, which are individually sized to fit.
"It gave the guys more security because it's properly sized to them. … And we wanted to have an accountability factor," Hodges said. "Just like your SCBA face piece, you're responsible for this. So, when it's part of your personal ensemble, they will definitely take more pride in it."
Once the vests were ready to be worn on the job, Charleston and Aurora firefighters were trained not only in how to wear them but when to do so. Situations that require vests to be worn include:
- active shooters
- shooting and stabbing incidents (Hodges points out that the vests provide some "slash and stab protection")
- civil disturbances
- calls involving explosive devices or suspicious packages
- SWAT incidents
- domestic violence incidents and/or addresses flagged as potentially dangerous
Aurora firefighters respond to about 60 to 70 calls a day, with the majority of those being EMS incidents, Rhodes said. Charleston also has seen a decline in fire calls, according to Hodges.
Both communities have seen slight increases in violent crimes, too, and that means firefighters need to maintain a certain level of vigilance no matter what type of calls, Hodges and Rhodes stressed. While mass shooting incidents can draw attention to the life-saving importance of body armor, the smaller, everyday calls can be fraught with as much—or even more—danger, they added.
"It's the unsuspecting calls, the domestic violence calls. It's the well-being call of someone on a park bench. Those are the ones we need to put a lot of focus on and keep our eyes open on those calls," Hodges said. "Typically, we approach those calls commonly without law enforcement. Whereas if we do have a shooting, there's typically a large law enforcement presence there, and that's a deterrent."
This month, the Lakeland, FL, Fire Department received a grant of more than $15,000 for 16 sets of ballistic vests and helmets through the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, which also provided a grant of nearly $10,000 for 14 ballistic vests and helmets for the Platteville-Gilcrest Fire Protection District in Colorado. Roughly 150 of Lakeland's emergency personnel will receive training with the vests and use the equipment in rescue task force teams, akin to the Aurora Fire Department.
Lakeland hasn't experienced shooting incidents similar to what happened in Charleston and Aurora. But the department has noticed what Lakeland Fire Lt. Matt Brown called "an unfortunate trend" in the state, as well as the country, when it comes shootings and other violent incidents that would require better protection for firefighters.
"We pride ourselves on providing the best customer service for citizens, and given the unfortunate trend, we needed to make sure our firefighters were prepared in case something like this happened in our area, that we would be prepared to handle an event and be able to help our citizens," said Brown, adding that Lakeland is not that far from the sites of two major violent incidents: the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016 and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland in 2018.
Currently, Brown is in the process of tailoring the protocols for when ballistic gear will be worn, much like how they've been developed in Aurora and Charleston. The goal is to have the vests in use by the fall, although some of those plans are contingent on the completion of a new department training center in September.
Polk County Fire Rescue—Lakeland's home county and the agency that provides ambulance transport for the city—is one of the models Brown is using when it comes to designing procedures. He also will be drawing on the department's SWAT medics program, which has a similar methodology to rescue task force teams and was started in 2006.
Brown understands that it might be pessimistic to outfit firefighters with ballistic vests when the department hasn't encountered the same type of violent incidents like Aurora or Charleston.
"I know that may come across as a very negative viewpoint, but it's a viewpoint of being prepared. … We have to be prepared for any type of event. We're a full-service fire department," he said.
In fact, adding ballistic vests as a form of PPE is another example of how the fire service, as a whole, continues to adapt to the times, according to Rhodes.
"In a million years, you never would've thought that firefighters would be shot at for doing their job. But times are changing," he said. "We have to evolve, and we have to be ready to respond. That's just now the new norm. I hate using that phrase—the new norm—but that's just our reality now. Who knows what kind of issues our department, the fire service, will face 10 years from now?"
Ideally, Rhodes and Brown would like to see ballistic vests provided for each firefighter, but cost is an issue. Lakeland and Aurora currently make sure members are trained with the vests, but the departments parcel them out among different vehicles.
Three years after Charleston firefighters were met with gunfire during a "routine" medical call, Hodges has no regrets about making sure members of the department have as much protection as possible.
"As I get notifications when I'm not in the office ... of a shooting or a violent crime, it does give me a little more reassurance that our crews that are out there are definitely safe," he said. "We put in a lot of research and consideration into this and obviously it's a costly purchase. But again, the peace of mind that your firefighters have that extra level of protection is just paramount and it's a decision we won't retract on. It's definitely worth the purchase."
