PITTSBURGH, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The following letter was issued today
by Joseph E. King, President of Pittsburgh Fire Fighters IAFF Local No. 1:

    The Pittsburgh Fire Fighters IAFF Local No. 1 has been meeting with the
Murphy Administration, specifically Deputy Mayor Sal Sirabella, since November
2001 discussing training needs of the Firefighters.
    We as Professional Firefighters have asked the City to train our members
in the following:

    -- Confined Space Rescue
    -- Weapons of Mass Destruction
    -- Rapid Intervention Teams
    -- Biological, Chemical and Nuclear Hazards

    Deputy Mayor Sirabella has been given documentation, videos, course
outlines, and proposed schedules for all of the courses stated above. These
courses could be conducted while Firefighters are on duty and therefore would
be of no cost to the City.
    While the Mayor's Office has done nothing, we as Professional Firefighters
have aggressively been working to have all of our members trained for response
to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) incidents.
    The Mayor and his staff have put together a supposed plan of evacuation
for all of the downtown businesses in case of a WMD incident. However, the
problem is that even though the Mayor has established a plan, no Firefighter
within the Bureau of Fire has received any training pertaining to responding
to a WMD incident.
    I must emphasize the fact that we have not received any training nor do we
have the tools to perform rescue attempts as required. We are the front line
defense. I believe that the City of Pittsburgh, more specifically the Mayor's
Office, is reluctant to enrich the training of Firefighters for the obvious
reason that they want to reduce our productivity. This is a concerted effort
so that our services that we provide are not enriched so that the
Administration can make a case against the possible closing of community Fire
Stations.
    The Administration feels that the less training that we receive the easier
it will be for them to eliminate community Fire Stations, and that they will
be able to justify this based on experience and needs. They are forgetting
about the unique Pittsburgh demographic and geographic dimensions of the City.
    I believe that the City Administration has one goal and objective, and
that is to reduce the City Fire Bureau, and diminish the protection that the
current Bureau offers to the citizens of Pittsburgh, and that this is to be
done at all costs.
    The question that the City Administration, specifically Deputy Mayor
Sirabella has to answer, is why haven't they trained Firefighters in WMD
incidents?  This training should be consistent with what is currently being
suggested by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
    This Professional organization has been at the forefront of trying to get
more training for all of our members. Our Weapons of Mass Destruction
Committee submitted a "Standard Operating Procedure" to the Mayor's Office
well over five (5) months ago, yet there has been no response from their
office. We have had to educate our own members on the danger of specific
biological agents because the City has not and does not take the possibility
of a WMD incident occurring in Pittsburgh as a real possibility.
    Why has it taken over ten (10) months for the Public Safety Bureau to even
contemplate what training is necessary to prepare for WMD incidents?  We need
the training and the tools that are necessary to mitigate any WMD incident.
Pittsburgh Fire Fighters Local No. 1 went to arbitration concerning our
training - and we won - but the City of Pittsburgh has not yet complied with
the arbitration award.
    I have been very patient concerning the training the Firefighters of
Pittsburgh. However, I am quite upset that after ten (10) months that the
Administration continues to delay the implementation of a formalized training.
Their lack of leadership concerning this issue shows a total disregard not
only for the Firefighters but also for the Citizens of Pittsburgh.
    I would like to know what excuse is Deputy Mayor Sirabella going to use
this time to justify not providing the training to the Firefighters.
    I must emphasize that the Firefighters of Pittsburgh are not trained to
handle a WMD incident, and that we are no better prepared to handle these
types of incidents than we were before 9-11. Morally and fundamentally, we as
firefighters have a right to be protected and to perform our responsibilities
and commitment to the citizens of Pittsburgh. We need the training and the
tools to carry out this assignment. This training is the responsibility of
government, but obviously it is not important to them.

    Sincerely,

    Joseph E. King
    President
    IAFF Local No. 1

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