Talking to many people who live on or responded to the Gulf Coast for our upcoming coverage was like nothing we have never experienced or heard about before. One fire chief described the storm's aftermath as "jaw-dropping devastation." Another said the aftermath "looked like a nuclear strike," adding that, "You know the people who are visiting or passing through because their jaws drop when they see the aftermath."
But the big story is that of the ongoing misery that will linger long after the hurricane damage is cleaned up. Many firefighters are on the brink of financial ruin. For many, not only are their homes gone, but so are their part-time jobs and the jobs of their family members. A good number have already quit their fire departments or are thinking of doing so. In question are homeowners' and flood insurance coverage, and salvage and demolition have put a tremendous burden on these firefighters.
Devotion to duty has long been a cornerstone of the fire service. Brave Gulf Coast firefighters stayed at their posts, despite knowing (or, in some cases, not even knowing) whether their own homes were in danger of being blown away, flooded, damaged or destroyed. As one chief summed it up, this is the price of "living in paradise"; it's the same sentiment we heard after the Malibu wildfires. More coverage on the storm, response, search and rescue, and aftermath will be published next month.
We welcome Larry M. Greenberger as the new publisher of Firehouse Magazine. Larry will be working out of the Chicago area and we welcome him to our team.
On the conference front, Cygnus Expositions, a division of Cygnus Business Media, Firehouse Magazine's parent company and producer of EMS EXPO, Firehouse World and Firehouse Expo, has announced it will co-locate Firehouse Las Vegas, a new show similar to Firehouse Expo and Firehouse World, with EMS EXPO in the fall of 2006. The co-located event will rotate with EMS EXPO each year, launching Sept. 25-29, 2006, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
I recently attended a ceremony at which Fred Endrikat of the Philadelphia Fire Department was promoted to battalion chief, Special Operations Command. I have known Fred for 33 years. He served as a lieutenant in Rescue 1 since it was established, then moved into the new Special Operations Command. Fred also serves as Team Leader for Pennsylvania Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1 and as operations chief on one of three FEMA Incident Support Teams. Fred was the first out-of-town representative at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then worked at the scene coordinating FEMA's USAR response for over a month. He has responded to numerous deployments and was in place nearby before Hurricane Katrina hit.
At the promotion ceremony, the Philadelphia Fire Commissioner read a letter sent to the Mayor of Philadelphia by then-Deputy Chief Peter Hayden of the FDNY World Trade Center Command, who is now chief of department. The multi-page letter was a glowing accumulation of all the hard work Fred did while in New York. Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers, who served as a new firefighter under Fred when he was a lieutenant in Engine 57, administered the oath of office to the new battalion chief.
Fred is a mild-mannered man, one who never looks for self promotion. A show of support and admiration was evident from the more than 100 people gathered in headquarters for the ceremony that was for Fred alone. Fred is a longtime Firehouse contributing editor and was a top award recipient in our heroism program several years ago after he rescued several firefighters in a church fire that also killed firefighters. This was a fitting promotion for a 31-year firefighter who has done so much for so many, not only in Philadelphia, but all over the country in their time of need. Congratulations, Chief!
