Mission not what firemen pictured

Richardson: 2 hoping to aid Katrina victims were sent to photo op


07:53 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 14, 2005


By WENDY HUNDLEY / The Dallas Morning News


Two Richardson firefighters recently headed to Louisiana believing they would help with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Instead, they were asked to do little – except stand behind President Bush at a news conference.

Firefighters Billy Whitson and Noel Saldivar were among six Richardson firefighters who responded to a call by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for firefighters to pass out pamphlets, write reports and help hurricane victims sign up for federal assistance.

"We knew we weren't going to be jumping out of helicopters, chopping holes in roofs and saving babies," Mr. Whitson said.

After spending a couple of days training in Atlanta, Mr. Whitson said that he and Mr. Saldivar were flown Sept. 5 on a charter flight to New Orleans, where they were supposed to stand in the background with other firefighters while Mr. Bush held a news conference. But the president didn't make it to his planned appearance in New Orleans that day.

Mr. Whitson said the group of 50 firefighters were then put on a bus headed for Baton Rouge, where the president was scheduled to meet with evacuees, Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other officials. But the firefighters didn't arrive in time for those presidential visits.

Brian Richardson, a spokesman for Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., criticized FEMA for plans to use firefighters at the news conferences.

"This is one more example of the mistakes made by FEMA during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," Mr. Richardson said, "but we're optimistic, since Bush has taken responsibility for the mistakes made by FEMA, that the administration will stop staging photo ops and help us rebuild southeast Louisiana."

Deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino referred questions about the matter to Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA.

Mr. Knocke said he couldn't substantiate the firefighters' account.

"I can tell you there's a policy against pulling first-line responders off of front lines for press conferences," Mr. Knocke said.

The other four members of the Richardson team fared better: They are in Arkansas helping evacuees.

"We tried to get reassigned back to Dallas," said Mr. Whitson, president of the Richardson Firefighters Association. "They could have used us at Reunion Arena."

He said he didn't hesitate to respond to FEMA's call for help with hurricane relief.

He just wishes he'd been able to do that.

"There was nothing for us to do," Mr. Whitson said. "There was a lot of frustration. We just wanted to go and help." Mike Higgins, chief of staff of the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters, shares his frustration.

"I'm disappointed that firefighters trained in search and rescue aren't being used for that purpose," said Mr. Higgins, whose association represents 13,200 firefighters. "Public tax money should be used for a better purpose."

Mr. Whitson and Mr. Saldivar spent the night of Sept. 5 in a tent city in Baton Rouge and were taken back to the New Orleans area the next day. They spent that day at the Jefferson Parish fire station, where they put out a trash fire and helped load ice and water for disaster victims.

"There were no evacuees in the shelter where we were at," Mr. Whitson said. "All the people had been moved out of the region. When it came to the point where there was nothing for us to do, we were released."

Washington staff writers G. Robert Hillman and Richard Whittle contributed to this report.

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