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.

Story here; link via Sploid.

Comments

[Ironchef]

Hey Hudak - Those firefighters who tore off their FEMA insignia just did that!

[Jeff P.]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone noticed if Bono has shown up at this nightmare yet?

[Jennifer]

Jeff, the New Orleanians are not yet hungry enough to warrant Bono-level intervention. Give 'em another week.

[mediageek]

So far they've only managed one (1) Sean Penn.

[Jennifer]

Mediageek--

Sean Penn is a twit, but I still have to have some level of respect for a man who will take his boat down to NOLA and actually do some hands-on saving of people, as opposed to those who Officially Help by donating ten minutes of their time to caterwaul during one of the televised "Save the Big Easy Benefit Concerts."

[independent worm]

From the article:

"Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid.
But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas. "

[joe]

This is bigger than a Bono. It's bigger than a Struthers. I'm not saying this is a Geldoff, but it's pretty big.

[butterbarrel]

"But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas."

Sadly the gubernment will olny grow after all this.

[dhex]

so, is it a requirement at fema to be a tremendous fuckface before you get a job there? or does it merely help grease the wheels of promotion?

[butterbarrel]

soor worm ...

[independent worm]

"They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet." The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA has warned them not to talk to reporters."

[Russ D]

Gotta love a community-relations exercise where NOT talking to reporters is considered good community relations.

[Jennifer]

That is positively obscene. People are still dying because FEMA decides the best use for emergency personnel is to stand with the President in a photo op?

[mac]

The grown-ups are now in charge at the White House....

[independent worm]

Gotta love a community-relations exercise where NOT talking to reporters is considered good community relations.

Maybe they're afraid the firemen are going to give away the Secret Plan to Save New Orleans.

[ed]

Look on the bright side: No one will be sexually harrassed during the cleanup.

[independent worm]

If FEMA's rescue people are just there to hand out fliers, then what happens when people call FEMA? A crew of rescue workers comes to their home and hands them more fliers?

[Solitudinarian]

Sean Penn is a twit, but I still have to have some level of respect for a man who will take his boat down to NOLA and actually do some hands-on saving of people

If he had actually done some hands-on saving of people, I might agree, Jennifer. As it is, he's a not-too-bright fella who doesn't know to replace the drain plug in his boat.

[Xavier]

The really sad thing about the sexual harrassment fiasco is that neither party will risk criticizing it. It makes Bush look bad because it's a moronic policy that clearly inhibits an effective rescue operation. But it also makes Democrats look bad because everyone knows that absurd, wasteful sexual harrasment seminars are a creation of the left. If the story is true, just about everyone has an incentive to bury it. I expect to hear very little about it.

[thoreau]

Just be glad that the firefighters weren't asked to do TPS reports.

[SY]

"Just be glad that the firefighters weren't asked to do TPS reports."

You DID get the memo?

[Shawn Smith]

But thoreau, they haven't gotten the memo mentioning that the cover sheet to the TPS report has changed. They were busy in the sexual-harrassment training "seminar."

[Jon H]

"If he had actually done some hands-on saving of people, I might agree, Jennifer. As it is, he's a not-too-bright fella who doesn't know to replace the drain plug in his boat."

So what? It's still far better than anything Bush has personally done. Bush has actively hampered recovery with his photo-op bullshit.

[Akira MacKenzie]

"I would go back and ask the firefighter to revisit his commitment to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country," said FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak.

The firefighters - or at least the fire chiefs who assigned them to come to Atlanta - knew what the assignment would be, Hudak said.

"The initial call to action very specifically says we're looking for two-person fire teams to do community relations," she said. "So if there is a breakdown [in communication], it was likely in their own departments."

You stupid cow! Why the hell would you call firefighters down to the Gulf Coast to hand out fucking leaflets? Did you honestly think that these men and women of action would come all the way down to a disaster area if supervisors told them that window dressing was ALL they were going to do?

There was no miscommunication. Someone is lying, and her name is Mary Hudak. The only question I have is "Why?"

[Solitudinarian]

Calm down, Jon - the day we can't make fun of foolish celebrities, the terrorists and hurricanes will have won.

[saw-whet]

You know those guys in the federal gov make some very impressive salaries. They keep saying that high salaries are necessary to attract and retain the best and the brightest. Otherwise these outstanding folk would surely just up and go back to the private sector. More moo-la don't you know.

Yep. Wealth, power, arrogance, a head full of mush and excellent networking skills. Oh yeah, and it helps to be a tremendous fuckface.

[R C Dean]

Sean Penn did exactly nothing for the people of New Orleans, Jon and Jennifer.

He loaded up a 4 person boat with his own flak-jacketed self and , count 'em, 3 members of his entourage, including his personal photographer, and then had to return immediately to dock because the collective IQ of all 4 was inadequate to the task of putting in a drain plug.

The entire exercise was childish and self-centered almost beyond parody.

[Isaac Bartram]

Next up. The highly skilled trauma team from Johns Hopkins will be handed shovels and assigned to rebuild the levees.

[Jennifer]

No doubt, RC, but at least Sean Penn isn't wasting the time of firefighters who thought they were volunteering to help people but instead ended up filling space at bullshit photo ops.

[Xavier]

This thread is quickly degenerating into a debate over who's worse: Sean Penn or George Bush. This is a silly question. They are, of course, each jackasses in their own ways. Let's just accept that and move on.

[Jennifer]

Xavier--

True, both idiots, but at least the Penn idiot has no say over what our government does.

[Haven't Taken the Training Yet]

Look on the bright side: No one will be sexually harrassed during the cleanup.

Hmm. You know, this disaster could be a great opportunity to pick up some primo babe-age.

"Hey, foxy ladies on the rooftop! I got room in this boat here for three or four hot bitches!"

Yep, I'm going down there.

[heynow]

hey, if everyone else can selectivley cut and paste quotes, so can I:

"The initial call to action very specifically says we're looking for two-person fire teams to do community relations," she said. "So if there is a breakdown [in communication], it was likely in their own departments."
One fire chief from Texas agreed that the call was clear to work as community-relations officers."

[Funny]

heynow,

Don't ruin a perfectly good snarkfest with a full quote.

A brief request for facts, remember that's what I thought "reason" was about, are there currently any fires in New Orleans to be put out? Is it possible that firefighters are good for having contacts with individuals who may be a little leery of say cops or armed national guard? I'm just asking. Firefighters are one of the most trusted occupations.

[PintofStout]

hey, if everyone else can selectivley cut and paste quotes, so can I:

"The initial call to action very specifically says we're looking for two-person fire teams to do community relations," she said. "So if there is a breakdown [in communication], it was likely in their own departments."
One fire chief from Texas agreed that the call was clear to work as community-relations officers."

That just means they planned on under-utilizing skilled help...worse than poor organization, planned ineptitude. Sounds like gubmint to me.

[drf]

Thoreau, why do you hate america? if sexual harassing fire fighters are TPS'ing, then only the terrorists will have them. or something.

dammit. you bunch of juanita loving nerfherders.

(no idea, either. just smile, nod, and back away slowly)

[Doc]

Poor Brownie! He has hoping to skate through year to two at FEMA and then cash in as a lobbyist for FEMA contractors. Just like his college roomie that gave him the job after he did just that.

I'm sure on NRO, they are somehow blaming Blanco and the Mayor for this.

Medals of freedom for everyone!

[stubby]

Does anyone remember the X Files movie? I think it was the movie, not the series...Martin Landeau played some crazy-but-not-really-crazy conspiracy freak who insisted that FEMA was either a tool of, or in league with, the aliens in the Big Overarching Conspiracy?

Anyone?

Anyway...

[Brian]

Before anyone gets their undies in a bunch about WHAT YOU THINK HAPPENED...

Please read the formal description from this special request for Firefighters who were told first, foremost and at all times that this unique deployment was solely for long-term human services and community services related to the *recovery* phase and not rescue.

This call was VERY SPECIFICALLY for a 2,000 strong cadre of Firefighters from across the nation, who are seen as friends of the community, to take on a humanitarian role in the *weeks* that followed the Hurricane.

That any of the Firefighters or Chiefs who came to the assembly point or sent personnel may have thought otherwise only proves them to be fools.

What part of read the instructions didn't they understand? There are and remain other avenues for rescuers. Firefighters with special disaster training had already been requested, sent and arrived.

The "upset" Firefighters mentioned in the article failed to read the very vivid and detailed instructions they were provided prior to signing up.

No matter your predisposition, you can't blame FEMA for this particulare story. No, if any blame is to be offered, it should be to the backoods Firefighters and their Chiefs who failed to properly assemble and network specially skilled teams *prior* to the event, and now made it clear to the world they can't read the simple instructions sent by FEMA for Firefighter-based Humanitarian Aid - NOT Fire or Rescue operations.

Just because these people were "Firefighters" doesn't mean they should be exempt from reading the instructions. Would they go to a clealy labeled vegan restaurant and throw a hissy-fit because they couldn't get a steak?

They failed to read the instructions, and worse yet, failed to prepare, optimize and make available their RESCUE workers prior to or during the event through proper channels.

I'm a Firefighter, and I read the notice. It was clear to me what FEMA was looking for. What a shame that some Firefighters, Fire Chiefs and Reporters just don't get it.

There may be finger to point of people to blame for many things that happened during and after Hurricane Katrina. Blaming FEMA for this particular story however, isn't one of them.

[MB Hayes]

Hmmm, Sean Penn is putting himself at risk for Hepatitis A and B. I hope he's had a tetanus booster shot recently, and a gamma globulin injection. Untrained people jumping on boats and trying to rescue others often end up needing to be rescued themselves. Not smart under these conditions. I completely understand and applaud NO natives trying to save each other. Untrained outsiders and TV reporters are probably just impeding resuce efforts.

[thoreau]

How about we tell George Bush and Sean Penn that beachfront property in Montana was destroyed by the hurricane? They'll both go their and demonstrate their incompetence far away from any actual refugees, and people who know what they're doing can work on disaster relief.

If they have trouble finding the beaches in Montana, we can assign them to go find and rescue the highly endangered North American snipe.

[Jesse Walker]

Brian, you're arguing with a strawman. It's not just FEMA that clearly stated what the firefighters were being called up for. The linked article reports the content of the call quite clearly as well.

The important point isn't that the firefighters were misled, it's that FEMA is misallocating the people it has at its disposal. If this were an isolated story, I might believe the firemen are just bellyaching, but unfortunately it's part of a pattern.

[Happy Jack]

Just one question.* If these people are homeless, I assume they don't have phones. How are they going to call the 800 #?

* well, two. If they find a phone, how does FEMA get back in touch with them? (I'm two doors down from the dead guy in the wheelchair)

[Stevo Darkly]

Homeless people with cell phones have been reported since at least 1998.

My first instinct, to cluck over this, turns out to be wrong.

Not uncommon.

How the phones might have been acquired.

[Stevo Darkly]

Oops. My "How the phones" link was the wrong one. It was from another ignoramus like me.

I meant this link. (About a program in Boston; there could be similar ones in NOR.)

[carabinieri]

sometimes i question your committment to sparkl^H^H^H^H^H^Hlibertarianism...

[Jack]

Good "The Prisoner" reference, Matt.

[Jeff P.]

Sean Penn slept with Maddonna. I think he's WAAAY past a fear of hepetitis.

Hey, have the Scientologists chimed in on Katrina yet?

[Dynamist]

Jesse: Were the fighters misled, or did they hear what they wanted to believe? Are you here to help, because you care,...or because you want to have your own self-identity reinforced?

No beef against any of y'all who want to help. Plenty of beef against all y'all who only want to help if it fits your agenda.

Helping the suffering understand how and where aid is available is now less than noble? What the freak do you want? Should I page you when I find some triplets that need saving? I'm sure there's a cat up a tree closer to home. If you want headlines, go ahead and save that cat. It is easy to be a part-time hero.

[the-other-joe-can-reason]

Jesse,

Whenever you have a problem with the facts involved in someone's refutation of a post, you like to claim it is a strawman argument. I've heard this attack from you several times, and it deserves a thorough reply.

I have to ask, do you ACTUALLY KNOW what a strawman argument is?

"1. A weak or imaginary opposition (as an argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted. 2. A person set up to serve as a cover for a usually questionable transaction." (Webster's)

Is Brian's post an imaginary opposition for the sake of argument? The argument is a legitimate difference of opinion over management protocol. There's nothing being set up to easily overwhelm the argument that FEMA is misallocating resources. What is obviously being argued by Brian is that these firefighters should have understood upfront that they would not be involved in a search-and-rescue. So why would they go to N.O. only to become frustrated with a policy they were informed of prior to their arrival? FEMA is not to blame for their complicity once they agreed to the terms.

Is Brian's post a weak opposition for the sake of argument? It is difficult to claim that his argument is weak if it can be shown that FEMA's policy is being selectively quoted, taken out of context, or cast in light that allows readers to assume wrongly that the firefighters' frustration expresses a general public perception of frustration that the reader can share. Clearly, the firefighters have specific knowledge of a policy that contextualizes their frustration as something different from yours or mine.

Well then, is this just a "cover" or distraction from the main issue? If the main issue was insensitivity, it would be wrong to claim that FEMA is not linked to these firefighters' frustration. To the extent that Matt's post implicitly shows yet another typical government outrage in the context of this blog, what is being argued is that FEMA's incompetence is part of a systematic management failure.

Yet as Brian clearly says, this is NOT a typical outrage. To use the firefighters' circumstance as an example of FEMA's general incompetence is to possibly argue several things.

First, that FEMA's incompetence is somehow linked to the result from this specific instance. This error would mistake a correlation for an effect.

Second, that because this specific instance occurs after we supposedly know FEMA's incompetence, that it is somehow the result of it. This would be a post hoc, propter hoc fallacy.

Or third, that FEMA's general incompetence is evident in this specific instance would be to perpetuate another fallacy.

It is unclear that Matt means to imply any of logical fallacies indicated above. Indeed, it would be an argument from absence (without Matt's specific indication otherwise) to claim that he intends any of these errors to be implied. And yet, the readership of this thread has variously interpreted Matt's posting to mean that he is arguing for any one of these fallacies.

Brian's post corrects these readers, and points out how disingenuous it is to leave the impression that FEMA is incompetent by virtue of the frustration they have caused the firefighters, even though you may argue that FEMA is incompetent because of the way they have managed the firefighters.

Whether the firefighters feel frustrated or not does not indicate that the management is wrong, although it may be shown wrong for other reasons which are not apparent in Matt's post.

Of course, the proof of FEMA's general incompetence must be taken from the total of all specific instances, not one's prejudice against any single instance. Thus, Brian's post is highly relevant, because it counters the real strawman arguments of other readers.

Further, it is possible that Matt's post can be taken as de facto strawman by his failure to correct any misimpressions given.

But I guess it takes your strawman to know another, eh?

[Foiler]

One good outcome is that FEMA obviously is not the monstrous agency as described by the tinfoil hat crowd. At one point I was concerned about secret camps for millions of americans, but seems like they can't find their asses with their elbows.

[thoreau]

Foiler-

That's just what they want you to think!

:->

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I worked for FEMA. My primary duty was the processing and recruitment of first-responders. During events I dispatched them.

FEMA communicates very poorly with their people, if at all. They have a team of lawyers that focus mostly on telling first-responders what they CAN'T do. FEMA is an intensely political entity that is obsessed with covering its ass. Let it be said that there are a lot of hard-working, honest, and good people in the FEMA system.. but management is abysmal, and moral is rock-bottom.

If Congress and/or the President is genuinely serious about reform, then there should be a total purge. The whole agency needs to be razed and rebuilt, and placed outside the political bullshit of the Department of Homeland Security. The focus should be PREPARATION, not REACTION. And the mission should extend beyond covering politicians' asses against terrorism.

[Jesse Walker]

Actually, Other Joe, I don't claim it's a strawman argument "whenever I have a problem with the facts involved in someone's refutation of a post." For one thing, I don't have a problem with the facts involved. For another, I don't do this "whenever" I want to challenge someone; I do it when someone is arguing with a position that no one has espoused. Unfortunately, a few of you do that regularly.

Brian made a strong case that FEMA told the firefighters up-front what they were being called in for. But neither Matt nor anyone in this thread has claimed otherwise (except Akira, who believes FEMA is actually lying about the content of the call -- a very dubious theory, but it's not the one Brian was addressing either). Therefore, the word "strawman" fits.

[Ed Walsh]

Having Mary Hudak waste valuable time training Firemen on sexual harassment proves that broads shouldn't be put into any position of power or authority.

[Kent Brockman]

Does anyone remember the X Files movie? I think it was the movie, not the series...Martin Landeau played some crazy-but-not-really-crazy conspiracy freak who insisted that FEMA was either a tool of, or in league with, the aliens in the Big Overarching Conspiracy?

I, for one, welcome our pamphlet-distributing overlords.