Rough Draft (did I mention rough?)

Innovation since the terrorist attack on September 11 has helped firefighters advance their technique and somehow this technology is not making it to the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY). Companies like Motorola and the government are slowing this process down; while, organizations such as the Gear Up Foundation are helping get devices into the hands of those who need it.

“Firefighters adjust to anything,” Nicholas C. Gaudiosi said. Gaudiosi is VP Director of Life Safety at Lehman Brothers global investment bank and former FDNY firefighter who retired in 2003 as Captain of Ladder 7.

Newly retired FDNY Chief Jim Riches was a firefighter for 30 years and agrees with Gaudiosi. “Firefighters are more than willing to adapt to any new technology.”

Not all firefighters believe that the transition is that effortless. FDNY firefighter Vincent Anzelone said the transition to new technology is going “slowly. We like to test things out before we go in to battle with them.” Anzelone will retire this year due to repertory illness from 9/11.

High-rise fires in particular have their own challenges that must be met with new tools to conquer them. “High-rise fires are very hot and difficult fires,” retired Chief Riches said, “Water is a necessity, blankets, thermal, over windows to prevent wind driven fire.” Riches also stressed the need for “radios to communicate any pertinent information” and “fans to pressurize stairs.”

Lehman Brothers Director of Life Safety Gaudiosi said other tools needed in a high-rise fire are thermal imaging, cameras, search ropes, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), personal removal device, and radios with a repeater system, SCBA, and rabbit tool. Anzelone also outlined the need for quality radios as well as “knowledge of the building, and working standpipes.”

After September 11, 2001, there have been advances in firefighter safety technology. Personal safety harnesses and communications units have advanced sine 9/11, according to Anzelone. For second alarm fires or more, according to Anzelone, require better radios to hear fellow firefighters and a television to see inside the building. Safety Director Gaudiosi said that since 9/11 there has been “more accountability” and “a better plan of action to reduce the number of men directly involved, moving the command outside the immediate impact area.”

Nevertheless, some firefighters do not see any progress being made. “Fires in hi rise buildings are dangerous,” retired Chief Riches said, “Studies are being conducted to help in fire safety in these buildings, but we are still equally in danger before 9/11 and thereafter.” Anzelone said there are no positive changes and the “radios still suck.”

Radios are one of the most important devices a firefighter carries with him. Retired Captain Gaudiosi said radios are “Everything, communication of changing situation so that firefighters can adjust strategy and tactics, request for help, etcetera.”

“Radio communication is critical,” Retired Chief Riches concurs with Gaudiosi, “Evacuation orders must be heard, changing situations, location of civilians, wind changes, and ventilation, both planned and unplanned. An order which is not heard can be fatal.”

“Radios are one of the best tools a firefighter has,” William G. Dennis said. Dennis was a firefighter who retired five days before September 11, 2001. “Communication is a major factor in fighting fires,” Dennis said, “I can not tell you how many times over my 20-year career that I have been told to evacuate a building. When you are given an order, you follow it. That’s the way we are trained. You are inside and do not see what the chief sees. There could be something like a gas tank or propane leak or any number of dangers that have to be relayed to one another.”

The FDNY’s radios have not changed since the events of September 11. “Firefighter radios still are not able to transmit messages in high-rise buildings, subways, and tunnels,” retired FDNY Deputy Chief Vincent Dunn wrote in his report named, Three Years Later: What has Changed Since 9/11. “Battalion chiefs may carry portable booster radios (each weighing 22 pounds) that enhance communications between the fire ground commanders and firefighters’ portable radios,” Dunn wrote, “This so-called ‘quick fix’ is nowhere near complying with the recommendation of the McKinsey and Co. consulting report.” The McKinsey report, Increasing FDNY’s Preparedness, detailed New York City building owners’ responsibility by recommending that they “install and maintain permanent equipment (an in-building repeater) that picks up and amplifies walkie-talkie signals.”

One of the reasons for this lack of progress is Motorola Corp. In March 2001, Motorola sold FDNY radios with a no bid contract, which is illegal. “Motorola is a very sore subject,” firefighter Dennis said, “I remember the day the FDNY gave us the new Motorola radios. We were never trained on them.” Dennis went on to say that with the FDNY’s old radios, “as soon as you pushed the button your transmission would start immediately. These new radios had some sort of repeater in them so you had to wait two seconds before you could transmit. Messages were being cut short.” Denis’ friend, firefighter Luke Healy, became lost in the basement of a house fire in Richmond Hill Queens. This was the reason why the radios were taken out of service after just one day. “He gave a mayday and not one of the units in the fire building heard it,” Dennis said, “Yet units responding from a mile away heard it on their radios. They issued the new radios to us without field testing them.”

Moreover, “Motorola got this as a no bid contract,” Dennis said. This means that there was no competition for Motorola’s agreement with the FDNY. “The then fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen was given a loan by Motorola in excess of $60,000,” Dennis said.

Firefighter Anzelone is baffled by Motorola’s incompetence. “They do try to innovate for us,” Anzelone said, “but it is hard to believe we can have cell phones and GPS systems with pinpoint accuracy and clarity and all we get is static.”

Retried Chief Riches recalls his experience with Motorola radios on September 11, 2001. “Motorola radios were ineffective on 9/11,” Riches said, “and many firefighters in the North Tower never heard the call to evacuate after the South tower had collapsed. They had two evacuation calls one full hour and one half hour before the North Tower collapsed.”

Motorola’s digital radios failed within one week of operation. The 20-year-old radios were then redistributed to the firefighters which were used on September 11 and failed the fire fighters. “The city of New York and Motorola have had a very friendly and questionable relationship,” Riches said, “No contract, no field test and lies that other cities, Boston and Chicago, had ordered them and used them.”

Motorola’s relationship with the New York City government angers some firefighters. Firefighter Anzelone said that when it comes to the New York City government, “it is all about cost. The government cares nothing about human life.”

Retired firefighter Gaudiosi said the “government can provide the funds to research new technology and purchase equipment. Firefighters should decide what is necessary to do the job.” The government “sometimes red tape at city level will lead to bad purchases,” said retired Chief Riches.

As for lessons people should learn from September 11, 2001, “the best recipe,” former Chief Riches said to prevent tragedy, “is fire drills and planning so that everyone knows what the whistles and orders mean and how to get out.”