Some firefighters are voicing displeasure with the city's new plan for who's in charge in case of a disaster.
The city unveiled its long-awaited Citywide Incident Management System, or CIMS, Friday.
It spells out the lead agency in more than a dozen emergency situations.
The NYPD will now take the lead in a chemical, biological, or radiological attack or hazmat situation.
The Police Department will have the power to give tactical direction to other agencies.
According to firefighters, the plan is doomed to fail.
"You have to make an assessment first: assess the damage, assess the danger and take the appropriate steps to mitigate isolate the hazard," said Peter Gorman of UFOA. "That has to be done by one agency, here its two agencies, it will not work."
"It's really a sharing of authority," said OEM Commissioner Joseph Bruno. "Certainly in no agency are we ever going to have firefighters reporting to a command officer and no police officer reporting to a chief of the Fire Department. They'll always have their chain of command."
The city has to have a disaster plan in place, before it can receive federal homeland security funding.
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