A Prudent Use of Homeland Security Dollars

The FDNY has purchased three more advanced-technology trucks that it will use to rescue people trapped in collapsed buildings — and now has one of the vehicles stationed in each borough.

The trucks — which cost $500,000 each — are equipped with powerful concrete-cutting saws, shoring materials, bags for debris that can hold up to 72 tons, and high-tech "listening" devices that can identify the slightest sound beneath piles of rubble.

"It can even detect a heartbeat through debris," said Chief John Norman, head of the FDNY's Special Operations Command, adding, "The threat of bombs [like] we've had overseas was one of the factors behind this."

The new trucks are assigned to rescue companies in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The city already had such trucks in Staten Island and The Bronx. "It's access to more equipment — it makes the boroughs more self-sufficient," said Captain Phil Ruvolo of Rescue 2 in Brooklyn.

The trucks will respond to the approximately 150 building collapses that take place in the city every year. The FDNY's new Special Operations fleet also includes support vehicles equipped with biochemical monitors and haz-mat suits.

Compared to some municipalities, who saw fit to use DHS monies to buy garbage trucks or other such items that were only tangentially related to homeland security, the FDNY used DHS funding to improve citywide coverage by supplementing their existing extreme capabilities trucks with three more, so that each borough has one dedicated vehicle. This builds in a redundancy into the FDNY operations, and means that response times to critical emergencies will be reduced. Good move by the FDNY.

In other news, the FDNY is releasing certain records related to 9/11.

Following September 11 th, The New York Times and certain families requested various records related to the attacks under the Freedom of Information Law. The Fire Department provided numerous materials but objected to providing certain records based on the right to privacy and other exemptions recognized by the Freedom of Information Law.

On March 24, 2005, the New York State Court of Appeals -- the State's highest court -- ruled in the matter. It upheld many of the City's contentions, authorizing various types of redactions to protect the privacy interests and other concerns urged by the City. Otherwise, it directed that the materials be released. In compliance with the Court's decision, the Department is releasing to The New York Times and the families in the lawsuit the oral histories and radio communications (including a log of EMS calls), with appropriate redactions, on Friday, Aug. 12, 2005.