Copyright 2005 The Salt Lake Tribune
All Rights Reserved
By LISA ROSETTA
The Salt Lake Tribune
Hiring firefighters to pass out fliers during the Hurricane Katrina disaster didn’t come cheap.
And Utah firefighters who answered the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s call for help still wonder if their time -- and taxpayers’ dollars -- were well spent.
More than 4,000 men and women from Utah and around the country mobilized to do community relations work for FEMA for about $9.4 million, according to an online government database.
However, that figure includes labor only, and not what FEMA spent on firefighters’ round-trip airfare and lodging.
FEMA’s controversial enlistment of firefighters for two-person “community relations” teams raised the ire of firefighters who thought they were going to do search-and-rescue work and instead pushed paper.
Even some firefighters who understood their assignments felt they were underutilized.
Layne Clyde, a Wasatch Fire District firefighter and EMT, said community relations should have been only one component of their assignment.
“It needs to be more of a community outreach than community relations, a little more hands-on,” he said.
But he’d do it again if FEMA asked him.
“In a heartbeat,” he said.
South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote said his two men, including a battalion chief, returned from the hurricane-ravaged South feeling disappointed they weren’t more effective.
It wasn’t until the end of their one-month stint that they were working with victims and inspecting damaged buildings. Then FEMA wanted to reassign them, and extend their stay another month.
“They said, ‘That’s enough, we’re going home,’ ” Foote said.
Some firefighters were flustered by the “hurry up and wait” factor.
“We hurry up and get the guys out there and they wait until they get deployed,” said Layton Fire Chief Kevin Ward.
Many firefighters had hoped to do search and rescue. FEMA spent about $72 million on rescue efforts, according to the online database.
In November, Foote attended a meeting of fire chiefs in Washington, D.C., during which acting FEMA Director R. David Paulison and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff acknowledged that FEMA could have better utilized the firefighters.
However, FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said Paulison was pleased with the firefighters’ response and, given another large-scale disaster, would call on them again.
Firefighters have already undergone background checks, are equipped to work in adverse environments and are experienced at dealing with traumatized people, he said.
“Absolutely we’d do it again,” he said. Next time, however, FEMA will improve its “expectations management.”
“We want to make sure folks know what they’re signing up for,” Kinerney said.
At the D.C. meeting, Foote said FEMA was responsive to firefighters’ complaints.
“I’m encouraged that a lot of lessons were learned,” he said. Paulison, FEMA’s acting director, “is a fire guy and this is who we need in there.”
Layton’s Ward said Paulison, a former firefighter and director of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, is a welcome change at the agency.
“I think we’re going to see some major improvements in the way it [disaster response] is handled,” he said. “A lot of guys were disappointed. They thought they were going to be able to make a bigger impact.”
Matthew Heslop, a Roy firefighter and paramedic, said most firefighters felt they were misused during the disaster.
“They told us in Atlanta if we came across a medical emergency, to refer it to the medical professionals,” he said. “And here three out of four of us are paramedics.”
Nonetheless, Heslop said, he and his team felt their work was important. Many victims were unaware of the resources available to them.
“When you visit with the victims, you can’t put a price on their reaction and their thank yous.”