HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

There are a number of allied thoughts at work as my fingers pound the keys of my weary, little computer. My thoughts are with my friends and associates in the New York City Fire Department. As they struggle to keep going, they are continually being worn down by the slow, day-by-day grind of the clash of crashing human events.

Life goes on, as we all know, but as the clock of life ticks on in our country, and adds weary moment after weary moment of time to the history of the world, the harsh memories of that cataclysmic Tuesday in September are growing dimmer in the mind of our country. I now see that those images of dedication, sacrifice and courage in the fire service, typified by the members of the FDNY that shown forth so brightly around the world, are now beginning to fade.

The title to this commentary might well be one of Back to Business as Usual. Given the high-speed crush of events since 9-11, I saw our American Fire Service on the road towards the proper level of respect and funding commensurate with our critical place at the heart of our country’s infrastructure.

After all, are we not at war now? Have we not seen 343 of our country’s Bravest die in one fell catastrophic swoop? Have we not been assured by our President that we were in the front lines in our country’s war against terrorism? Sad to say gang, I am being to get the feeling from my friends, associates, and anonymous contacts around the country that we are creeping back to the way things were at 0800 hrs, on the morning of September 11, 2001.

The petty internal battles that tore us apart in the past are now beginning to rear their ugly little heads. The people that I have portrayed as being callous and uncaring with regard to the fire service are beginning to emerge from their two months of respectable hiding.

There is no one large event to which I can point. However, a number of small blips have come up on my radar screen. Individually, they might not mean a great deal, but collectively, they give a sense of where we may be headed. Trust me gang, the next journey does not take us to the Promised Land.

A local event tops the list for me this week. It seems that the municipal administrator for a small community near where I live has decided that playing the bagpipes at police and fire memorial services is not a worthy event. A member of the police force in her community has been participating as part of the pipes and drums corps for a local police department musical ensemble.

As you might imagine, people who do this kind and gentle thing have been extremely busy in the New York and New Jersey region. There have been literally hundreds of funerals and memorial services for the wide range of emergency service agencies impacted by the September 11 tragedy. Anyway, this police officer was performing this sad duty with the full blessing of his local police chief.

Imagine the shock and anger that raced through this small suburban police force when the administrator suggested that such duties were not part of the standard police department operation. It was the administrator’s thought that this individual’s pay should be docked and the chief reprimanded.

Move over Ebenezer Scrooge, we need the room in your coffin for this latter-day throwback to the world of penury. Give me a break! What kind of heartless miscreant will tell you that dollars are more important than doing the "right thing"? But then I thought a moment.

I thought back to other actions that this administrator had done over the past few years. I then thought back to the days when this administrator had served as a member of the township committee in our community. I recalled this person’s actions at that time. Suddenly this person’s actions were crystal clear in my minds eye. They were just being what they had always been, and that is not a nice thing to ponder. My heart goes out to the community where this petty tyrant exercises the power of heartless authority over the local police, fire, and emergency medical services.

This person is just following the orders of President Bush. They are getting back to the normal don’t care about people, but love bucks, approach to municipal operations. Don’t you just love it when patriots like this step up to the plate and support their President? Back to normal is right! Ha!

Another more sinister thread comes from a regular reader in the New England area. It seems that while most of the civilized, free world is stepping forward to bolster our Homeland Defense structure by beefing up fire and EMS resources, there are still bean counters at work deciding just how little local protection they can sneak by with.

These folks have kept a low profile throughout the months and days since the September 11 tragedies in New York and Virginia. I do not give people like this enough credit for anything that even smacks of a humane view of the world. It is my guess that they just didn’t want to appear un-American, during a time when the fire service was finally being recognized for the true heroes they are, and always have been.

Word is only now beginning to trickle in to me regarding a number of moves that are being contemplated by various local governments. These are aimed at "saving money." But what they are actually going to do is strip away critical parts of the minimal fire and EMS protection available in many parts of our country.

Many of these actions are being touted under the guise of "privatization." Their proponents claim to be concerned with the proper use of scarce government resources. Poppycock I say to all who will listen.

I don’t want to say that privatization is a bad thing, but it never really does what it claims to do. How can someone do a task for less, if they must also factor in a profit? I will tell you how. They provide a lesser level of service and then hire people for wages that are far less than they should be.

The taxpayer is lulled into thinking that they have saved money, when in fact the truth is quite different. They are indulging in a dangerous gamble. They are betting that they will never personally need the service that is being provided. The people who provide the service are also gambling that the level of service that they will need to provide will be sufficiently low that it remains within the reduced delivery levels provided. Talk about a lose-lose situation.

Lastly, what about all of the dedicated municipal workers who will be displaced by these types of actions? As one who worked in the municipal world for nearly 30 years, I wish to declare my opposition to privatization. This concept is the epitome of false economy. It falls under the heading of the old phrase that there are no free lunches in life.

Sad memories of the winter of 1996 come quickly to my mind when talk of "privatization " is mentioned. That is the year that Newark, New Jersey laid off all of its snow plowing force, and went to private contractors. Unfortunately, they missed some key lessons. They discovered that:

• You cannot advertise late
• You cannot pay less than surrounding towns
• You cannot have a reputation for being late with your payments

All of this sticks out in my mind, because we were trapped in a city for three days until the contractors had done all of the work in all of the surrounding towns. The city was literally paralyzed for a period of time.

I can recall during the midst of this weather emergency when the gang at my station chipped in to hire the fellow that was plowing a restaurant parking lot. We could not get out to the main streets around us. We did not have a lot of money, but this snow plow guy at least opened up the street where our station was located, and cleared the area around us. This allowed us to get a flying start on our way to the many runs we had to make.

Lest many of us face a repeat of this in the future, I urge all who labor within the vineyard of local government to remain vigilant. The same forces that were at work to gut our critical emergency services before September 11, 2001 are still out there.

You must be able to explain the value of your services and show how your existing delivery mechanism must be bolstered. Above all, you must make friends within the community who will come to your defense when the budget people come knocking on your fiscal door.

Now is not the time to bask in the glow of our brave heroes in New York. Now is the time to be ready for the people who would gut our critical emergency services. Have your facts, figures, and friends ready to do battle with the bean counters at city hall.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service