www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197
ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?" As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for fire fighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a we ek - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a mu ggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta. Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the Unit ed States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers. Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations o fficers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to dissemina te fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the Sherato n peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, say ing they refuse to represent the federal agency.
would go back and ask the firefighter to revisit his commitment to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country," said FEMA spokeswo man Mary Hudak. The firefighters - or at least the fire chiefs who assigned them to c ome to Atlanta - knew what the assignment would be, Hudak said. "The initial call to action very specifically says we're looking for two-person fire teams to do community relations," she said.
One fire chief from Texas agreed that the call was clear to work as c ommunity-relations officers. But he wonders why the 1,400 firefighters F EMA attracted to Atlanta aren't being put to better use. He also questio ned why the US Department of Homeland Security - of which FEMA is a pa rt - has not responded better to the disaster. The firefighters, several of whom are from Utah, were told to bring b ackpacks, sleeping bags, first-aid kits and Meals Ready to Eat.
came with awkward fire gear and expected to wade in floodwaters, sift through rubble and save lives. "They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter.
The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA has warned them not to talk to reporters. On Monday, two firefighters from South Jordan and two from Layton headed for San Antonio to help hurricane evacuees there. Four firefighters from Roy awaited their marching orders, crossing their fingers that they would get to do rescue and recovery work, rather than paperwork. "A lot of people are bickering because there are rumors they'll just be handing out fliers," said Roy firefighter Logan Layne, adding that his squad hopes to be in the thick of the action.
While FEMA's community-relations job may be an important one - displaced hurricane victims need basic services and a variety of resources - it may be a job best suited for someone else, say firefighters assembled at the Sheraton. "It's just an under-utilization of very talented people," said South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote, who sent a team of firefighters to Atlanta. Foote said his crews would be better used doing the jobs they are trained to do. But Louis H Botta, a coordinating officer for FEMA, said sending out firefighters on community relations makes sense. They already have had background checks and meet the qualifications to be sworn as a federal employee. They have medical training that will prove invaluable as they come across hurricane victims in the field. A firefighter from California said he feels ill prepared to even carry out the job FEMA has assigned him. In the field, Hurricane Katrina victims will approach him with questions about everything from insurance claims to financial assistance. "My only answer to them is, '1-800-621-FEMA,' " he said. Roy Fire Chief Jon Ritchie said his crews would be a "little frustrated" if they were assigned to hand out phone numbers at an evacuee center in Texas rather than find and treat victims of the disaster. Also of concern to some of the firefighters is the cost borne by their municipalities in the wake of their absence. Cities are picking up the tab to fill the firefighters' vacancies while they work 30 days for the federal government. "There are all of these guys with all of this training and we're sending them out to hand out a phone number," an Oregon firefighter said.
Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid. But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.
All material found on Utah Online is copyrighted The Salt Lake Tribune an d associated news services. No material may be reproduced or reused with out explicit permission from The Salt Lake Tribune.
|
http://csua.com/feed/