FEMA Declares Firefighters Unmutual
You'll never guess how FEMA's utilizing 1,400 trained firefighters who volunteered for Katrina duty:
Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.
On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the Sheraton peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.
Worst of all is this reaction from FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak:
I would go back and ask the firefighter to revisit his commitment to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country.
