Made Feelings Known

Other chiefs have also said as much-but behind the scenes. In a memo sent to the Office of Emergency Management earlier this year, FDNY officials wrote that awarding control of biochemical, hazardous material and mass casualty disaster scenes to the NYPD jeopardized public safety.
 
Nonetheless, the Mayor signed the executive order governing CIMS April 11. Fire Department officials and union leaders are expected to meet with the City Council May 2 to further discuss the response plan.
 
Chief Hayden released a statement late in the afternoon on the same day the Times article appeared. In it he said the FDNY is "without question ... better prepared than we were three years ago."
 
He went on to enumerate the ways in which the FDNY has improved its training, equipment and technology to better respond to potential attacks and stressed that the department has "interoperability" with other agencies, including the NYPD.
 
He then stated that the FDNY had argued strongly during the last two years "for unified command at terrorist incidents involving haz ardous materials, an area in which the Fire Department has the greatest expertise."
 
Chief Hayden concluded by saying that the FDNY will continue to have a critical role in protecting life and property in the city.
 
It's what we've always done and it's what we'll continue to do," he reiterated. "We will ensure that the guidelines established in the new CIMS protocol will be enforced and will protect the safety of all New Yorkers."
 
Stephen Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters' Association, applauded Chief Hayden' comments to the Times for, "saying publicly what all the top chiefs are saying pri vately." He charged Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta with not adequately representing the in terests of firefighters or pub lic safety at City Hall, and said the new protocol' was a direct result of the Commis sioner's weakness.

'Lost Power Struggle'

"I hope [Chief Hayden's]' comments have some positive impact, but I hold out little expectation that the Mayor will change his mind," stated Mr. Cassidy. "This is clearly a power struggle and the Fire Commissioner lost. The ultimate negative im pact is on public safety, and that-along with the safety of our FDNY members is our main concern."
 
The resistance to the new Citywide Incident Management System (CIMS) plan that the Bloomberg administration developed goes back to its earliest days, when city officials decided to deviate from the national emergency responder model and designate the NYPD as primary agency at virtually all types of major disaster scenes.
 
With the FDNY having core competency handling mass casualties, biochemical attacks and other hazardous material situations, Fire Chiefs expressed dismay and concern over the new CIMS model in a series of closed door meetings with the Mayor and in the 21-page memo sent to OEM in February.
 
Despite repeated assurances from city officials and Commissioner Scoppetta that the NYPD and FDNY had greatly improved their working relationship since the WTC attacks, Chief Hayden told the Times that the two departments were still not using a shared radio fre quency that would permit commanders from the two departments to communi cate directly.