HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

As I sat down at my computer to craft this week’s message for you, I was a man torn by emotions. It has not been a terribly uplifting week. On the one hand, dedicated firefighters have spent the week protecting the public. On the other hand, a bunch of fanatical domestic terrorists, and others of their ilk have been working over time to make the lot of firefighters a more dangerous one. I shall first speak of the loss of a dedicated brother firefighter.

Death, or the threat of it, is the ever-present spectator of our daily operations in the world of fire protection. Sitting back and watching from afar, the Grim Reaper bides his time. We are never more than a heartbeat away from being called home by the Lord. But we go about our work, with scant care or note paid to the specter of death. Because that is what, we as firefighters, do.

Unfortunately, the periods of relative calm that we experience are, sadly, all too brief. From time to time we are reminded of the price to be paid by the fire service for eternal vigilance and dedication to the people we swear to protect and serve.

Once again we in the State of New Jersey have suffered the loss of a firefighter in the line of duty. For the third time in the year 2001, the flags have been lowered to half-staff, the funeral drapes have been hung from the fire stations, and the members of the fire service are coming together to say farewell to one of our own. And, as I stated in last week’s commentary, there will be one more open seat at the table when all is said and done.

As I was watching the end of NYPD Blue on Tuesday night, the teaser for the 11:00 PM News broke in with, "… Tragedy struck the Newark Fire Department today, details at eleven." Talk about a dash of cold water in the face. I immediately checked my shift calendar (even old retired guys like to know who’s who and what’s what).

A quick call to one of my Battalion Chief buddies led to the sad details. Newark firefighter Lawrence J. Webb had died of an apparent massive heart attack while battling a house fire in North Newark late Tuesday afternoon. It seems that my old shift was working when the fire came in. The names and descriptions of all that transpired filled my mind with images of a dear friend who had been cast into the various roles in this tragedy.

The two-alarm fire broke out about 1615 hours, and was declared under control approximately 35 minutes later. While reviewing an article in The Star-Ledger newspaper, I noted that Firefighter Webb was in his usual spot on the tip, as his company moved in on the heavy fire that had taken hold of the third floor of a three-story frame dwelling. His buddies from Engine Company #13 were with him, as they pushed into the blazing apartment.

Suddenly conditions worsened and the Captain ordered everyone down to the second floor. As they hit the second floor, one of the men noticed that Firefighter Webb wasn’t with them. After a valiant effort by members of three different companies, assisted by the FAST team, he was brought down to the second floor. The rescue squad and EMS were waiting for him and work was begun immediately. Unfortunately, he was pronounced death about an hour later at nearby Clara Maas Hospital in Belleville.

Folks, this was a veteran crew. I can assure you of this, for they were a part of the shift where I had worked for the better part of a decade. We had been to a number of fires together, including the three-alarm job that took out four buildings on my last night before I retired. They knew what they had to do and did it. No flash, glitz or glamour.

I can recall when Larry Webb came on the job. At that time I was working as an instructor in the Training Division. His father William is a retired Fire Captain in Newark, and his brother Brian entered the department last year. He was part of a family tradition dating back more than 30 years.

It is important to note that in his recruit class back in 1986 he was one of a number of firefighters’ sons that came on the job at that time. It was inspiring to watch the proud fathers when the time came to graduate from recruit school. And isn’t that one of the proud traditions that we seek to perpetuate. Duty, honor, and service lie at the heart of all we do. I know that I felt great pride when I was asked to say a few words at my daughter’s class graduation ceremony at the Monmouth County Fire Academy. And I have seen the same look of pride in the faces of a number of buddies.

We in the fire service remain on guard to drop everything we are doing, at a moment’s notice, and race off to help someone in trouble. This is what we have done for centuries. But not everyone is on the same sheet of music with us.

Let me share a chilling story with you. It is taken from the headlines of the latest editions of the New York Times. Against the background of our historic dedication to putting our lives of the line we see a new form of domestic terrorism rearing its ugly head in America. And it appears to be every bit as blind and unreasoning as every type of terrorism I have ever seen before.

Over the past several months, an eco-terrorism group calling itself the Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for a number of major fires. The ELF, a loosely allied movement of environmental extremists has claimed responsibility for arson and vandalism against commercial properties in recent years, including a ski resort in Colorado, a lumber yard in southern Oregon, and housing sites on Long Island and elsewhere. Four teenagers were charged in the Long Island arsons earlier this year.

Their latest claims to fame are two fires that struck the state of Washington on Monday (5/25/01). One fire gutted a research laboratory at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle, while the other destroyed two buildings and several vehicles at a poplar tree nursery in the northwestern corner of Oregon. Both were reported shortly after 3 a.m. Monday.

The environmentalists were apparently angered by the on-going agricultural research that sought to improve the quality of trees that are being developed for the lumber industry in that state. Sadly, the terrorists failed to note that the company that performed the genetic research no longer was located at the property they put to the torch.

But then again, when did anyone ever accuse fanatics of using logic or reason. According to an article in the Wednesday May 23, 2001 edition of the New York Times, the words. " … You cannot control what is wild" and "ELF" were spray-painted on the sides of one of the remaining buildings", an F.B.I. spokeswoman, Beth Anne Steele, said.

Just to let you know what sort of support exists for these domestic terrorists, let me relate how this issue first came to me last week. Rick Christ, a longtime firefighter buddy of mine from Virginia (formerly an Adelphia, New Jersey firefighter) called me on his cell phone from the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains to tell me the following tale of government supported insanity. It so upset him that he pulled off the road to call me.

He was listening to one of his favorite shows on the regional public radio station when a shocking series of statements was uttered over the government supported radio network. Here is the transcript of that conversation between the host, Alex Chadwick, and his guest, Mary Sojourner. I am including it just as Rick received from the public radio system.

ALEX CHADWICK, host:

In Arizona, a group called the Coalition to Save the Preserves has burned nine newly built big homes over the past two and a half years. The group says it's trying to stop construction from encroaching on a nature preserve. So far, police have been unable to catch any suspects.

Commentator Mary Sojourner says she understands why the group takes such extreme measures.

MARY SOJOURNER:

The deserts of Arizona burn this spring, with red-gold wildflowers and outrage. The first place the Coalition to Save the Preserves torched was a 10,000-square-foot mansion the group nicknamed `The Casino.' At each site, they leave a note: `In like a ghost, out like a ghost. Happy hunting.'

Their press release points out an acre an hour a day of desert goes under the bulldozer, 24 hours a day, every day--1,045,440 square feet of wildflowers, of the carefully excavated dens of badger and kangaroo rat. The media label the coalition `eco-terrorists.' I don't. I witnessed what development does to the land, practically in my own backyard.

By the time the meadow a half-mile from my cabin was doomed, I had been in love with it for seven years, knew its bright grasses and wildflowers, its wolf spider webs and owl feathers. By the time I learned the meadow was doomed, it was too late.

Developers had bought the land for peanuts. They'd hired big-city architects and a famous golfer to plan the execution. Surveyor ribbons staked out the place like cancer on a CAT scan. Bulldozers rumbled in and dammed the snow-melt stream. Now where mayfly, horned toad and owl once lived out their lives, a huge house squats, its enormous windows staring blankly at our San Francisco peaks.

I've never seen a sign of life in the place: no kids' toys in the driveway or wash hanging on a clothesline, if there could be a clothesline in a gated development whose design code dictates bland Western charm.

I walked the land for months, debating arson. Burned forest would restore itself, slowly. By the time the pine slopes and wildflower meadow were pretty enough for the tastes of rich absentee owners, the developers would be long gone. What stopped my hand was what the place had taught me. A network of life shone between the treetops and lupine, the pine duff and monsoon cascades. I could not burn that living web.

So when I read that the Coalition to Save the Preserves has torched another empty shell of a mansion, I want to send money for matches, and I am grateful that because they are in and out like ghosts, I have no idea who they are. It is easy to whimper about the gentrification of the once Wild West, but to witness the brutal murder of the body of what you love is unbearable. Grief and rage are the only sane reactions, and for some, vengeance is a moral response.

CHADWICK: Mary Sojourner is author of the book "Delicate: Stories of Light and Desire." She comes to us from member station KNAU in Flagstaff.

Maybe it is just Rick Christ and I folks, but were we just exposed to the words of two federally sponsored commentators preaching open support for arson and other criminal activities. Or did we miss something. How on the face of God’s Green Earth can an arm of the Federal Government sanction the preaching of support for criminal activities?

People with this attitude like to hide behind the cloak of the First Amendment. But I would liken their words to those that have long been prohibited by court order. Each of us has a right to the freedom of speech, but none of us has the right to stand up in a crowded theater and yell, "… FIRE!"

This is exactly what this pair of government supported liberal dilatants has been allowed to do. As a taxpayer, I intend to forward this article to Senators Torricelli and Corzine of New Jersey, as well as my Congressman, Chris Smith of New Jersey District No.4.

These two people are allowed to run around urging people to put your life and mine in danger by setting everything they don’t like on fire. How in the world can we in the fire service preach fire safety, dedicated service, and the concept of laying our lives on the line? How can we be taken seriously?

As I sit here remembering a good firefighter called home too soon, I am literally mourning and seething all at the same time. You and I have to make our voice heard on this on folks. As long as we have good people laying down their lives in the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us, we cannot tolerate federal support for criminal activities. How many people heard that woman’s comments and may choose to act on them? Like I said, you are not allowed to yell FIRE! in a crowded theater. How can they be allowed to yell, "Buy them matches…?"

And lastly, as we pause to enjoy the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend, let us pause for a moment to remember the people who died to keep our nation free. We in the fire and emergency service world know about sacrifice. Let us thank the Lord for the brave people who have paid the price for us all.

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