FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 3, 2005

Fire Fighters Doing Their Jobs and the Jobs of Others

Working Double Duty with Little Assistance, No Communication, Lack of Information

BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ - Thousands of fire fighters, hoping to help with disaster relief and search and rescue, have been forced into roles usually played by other key federal and state agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA).

First responders are providing a wide range of assistance to victims without aid from state and national agencies. In addition -- contrary to rumors -- more than 1,500 fire fighters have assembled and remain in action in the hurricane region, performing emergency search and rescue missions, responding to calls in their communities, removing the dead, clearing trees, serving as information officers and acting in other capacities that typically would fall in the jurisdiction of other public servants during this time of extreme need and circumstances.

"No communication, miscommunication and misleading information continue to be a problem for everyone here on the ground," says Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). "This communications problem is part of the reason our fire fighters are having to do the jobs of others. After 9/11, you would think that we would have the communications capabilities that first responders need to do their jobs."

"I personally traveled to many of the areas devastated by Katrina, and firsthand accounts from our members there tell a heroic story of fire fighters in hurricane ravaged areas living in makeshift housing, often together with their families, fire gear and apparatus," says Schaitberger. "They are independently assembling their own command centers with the resources they have left to continue to do their jobs, again, without assistance from federal or state authorities in most cases, while federal resources remain packed in trailers outside the region."

Many parts of New Orleans and other storm areas are completely destroyed and uninhabitable, including the fire stations, yet fire fighters continue to work as needed where they can, given the limitations set by the destruction of the city and fire equipment. In some cases, fire fighters have been instructed not to respond without police escort.

Schaitberger adds, "I have been on the ground in the Gulf region, and IAFF staff have been assessing and monitoring fire fighter response and relief needs since the storm hit. At this time, while most New Orleans fire fighters are in need of assistance from personal loss, all have been accounted for and are making remarkable efforts to save lives. This union is assessing and addressing their personal needs and providing them with temporary housing, food, clothing and money, and will continue to help our members as long as necessary."

While the bureaucracy continues to push papers around their tables, and as federal fire fighting resources go undistributed where they are needed, fire fighters in New Orleans and in the surrounding jurisdictions also hit by the hurricane, including St. Bernard's Parish, Hammond, Mandeville, Slidell, Louisiana, and Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi -- among others -- who we have personally visited -- continue to do their jobs under extremely dangerous conditions with little or no outside resources or equipment being offered or provided by state or federal agencies.

"We are hopeful that our presence supporting our members with food, water and other personal resources will alleviate some of their frustrations and anxieties," says Schaitberger. "We know that as order is restored, even more of our fire fighters -- some of whom have been isolated, shot at and under siege in New Orleans before being rescued by our coordinated efforts -- will be able to get back to their main purpose."

The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents more than 270,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics who protect 80 percent of the nation’s population. More information is available at www.iaff.org .

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