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Phoenix Fire Department's AZTF-1
Team deploying to Louisiana in a Chinook helicopter. |
The Phoenix Fire Department's Urban
Search and Rescue team has been suspended by a federal
agency because it brought armed police officers for
protection on hurricane relief missions.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's
conduct code prohibits urban search-and-rescue teams
from having guns.
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon called the
reaction from FEMA "stunning, unbelievable, bewildering
and outrageous."
Phoenix's team included four police
officers who were deputized as U.S. marshals when they
participated in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina
and Hurricane Rita.
The team was credited with plucking
more than 400 Katrina survivors from rooftops and freeway
overpasses in flooded sections of New Orleans.
Phoenix officials are threatening to
refuse deployments in the future or possibly pull out
of the federal agency altogether unless the rules are
changed to allow teams to bring their own security,
even if that means police with guns.
Phoenix police were added to the team
about a year ago, and officials say they are essential
to protecting firefighters and FEMA's $1.4 million worth
of equipment.
Assistant Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Khan
said his department also is questioning the federal
agency's ability to manage working conditions, security
and communications.
"We have an obligation to provide
the safest environment as we can," Khan said.
U.S. Marshal David Gonzales said he
was dismayed by the suspension because the setup with
the police officers seemed ideal.
"We think this was a model,"
he said. "We think all rescue teams should have
armed escorts wherever they go, and we think this is
something they should adopt nationwide."
FEMA relies on 28 elite teams like the
Phoenix group to perform specialized rescue operations
immediately after terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
According to the mayor, FEMA officials
advised the team to bring U.S. marshals along on the
initial trip.
After Hurricane Katrina struck, firefighters
faced deployment to areas plagued by looting and lawlessness.
Twice, Phoenix's team was confronted by law enforcement
officers who refused to let them pass through their
communities and told them to "get out or get shot,"
Gordon said.
Officials told the Phoenix team on Sept.
26 that their help was no longer needed after members
of the group were seen embarking on a helicopter flight
with a loaded shotgun while helping with the aftermath
of Rita.
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