Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Poor communication between fire, police focus of Sept. 11 hearing

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 02:03:57 -0400

Poor communication between fire, police focus of Sept. 11 hearing

Associated Press
May. 10, 2004 02:15 PM

WASHINGTON - The Sept.
11 commission's next
public hearing, in New
York, will focus in part on
what's been done to
improve poor
communication and deal
with a rivalry between the
city's fire and police
departments that hindered
rescue efforts.

One study done for the New York Fire Department shortly after the 2001
attacks attributed about 120 deaths in the World Trade Center to a lack
of radio communication after a police helicopter sent a warning that the
north tower looked ready to fall. Firefighters did not receive it.

The Sept. 11 attacks killed almost 3,000 people, including 343
firefighters and 23 police officers.
"The New York City hearings will be some of the most important,
gut-wrenching and heart-pounding hearings we will have with the 9/11
commission," Democratic commissioner Timothy Roemer said. "They will
entail some of the heroic and brave actions of people who saved others
on 9/11.

"But we will also look at the mistakes and some of the problems," said
Roemer, a former Indiana representative. "We will look at the question
of how did we do on 9/11, and are we ready for the next attack or
emergency?"

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Homeland Security Director Tom
Ridge, and officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
and from Arlington, Va., are among those scheduled to testify next
Tuesday and Wednesday.
The first day of the hearings will focus on the emergency response, with
video footage tracing the sequence of events. Giuliani will recount his
experience on the second day of the hearings. He is expected to address
what U.S. intelligence was shared with the city, particularly after
President Bush reviewed an Aug. 6, 2001, intelligence briefing referring
to evidence of buildings in New York possibly being cased by terrorists.

The Port Authority had oversight of the twin towers while first
responders in Arlington were summoned when one of the hijacked planes
crashed into the Pentagon. Their lessons are seen as critical for other
cities that are planning their emergency response efforts.

At the hearing, the commission intends to review New York's response
from the moment American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower
at 8:57 a.m. until the building's collapse at 10:28 a.m.

Although the south tower was struck after the first, it fell 23 minutes
earlier.  After the collapse, a police helicopter sent a radio message
warning the north tower might soon fall. Several police officers were
able to escape, but firefighters' radios were not linked to the police
transmission so they didn't receive the message.

The panel also will examine why Port Authority officials locked the
rooftop doors of the Trade Center, preventing a potential helicopter
rescue for those trapped on the top floors.

"This competition between the fire and police department created many
problems. It was just a struggle," said Jerome Hauer, who headed New
York's Office of Emergency Management until 2000. He will testify at the
hearings.

Hauer, now director of the Response to Emergencies and Disasters
Institute at George Washington University, explained that the police
department did not like sharing its radios and frequencies, and fire
officials were uncooperative as the two groups sought to be the primary
response unit in emergencies.

"There has been a disjointed system and the city has actually gone
backward," he said. "Instead of going to a command structure, the police
department is now in charge and running public safety, and the fire
department has been left behind."
Police, fire and the city's emergency management office, created in 1996
to coordinate the emergency response, have not yet agreed on who will
take the lead in a terrorist strike or catastrophic accident. Hauer said
that is troubling with upcoming major events such as the Republican
National Convention.

Frank Gribbon, spokesman for the FDNY, said communication between the
two departments has improved since Sept. 11, 2001, and firefighters now
use more powerful radios capable of communicating with police. A police
spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Congress established the Sept. 11 commission to examine what led to the
attacks and advise ways the government can do a better job of tracking
terrorists and responding to an attack.

Last month, the panel heard from President Bush and Vice President Dick
Cheney, former President Clinton and ex-Vice President Al Gore, as well
as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, CIA Director George Tenet
and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The 10-member bipartisan panel is to issue its final report on July 26.

On the Net:

Sept. 11 panel: http://www.9-11commission.gov

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