Phoenix USAR Team Back in Business
It looks like the Phoenix Urban Search and Rescue team is back in business after FEMA removed their suspension (from azcentral.com via FireFightingNews.com).
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted its suspension of the Phoenix Fire Department's urban search and rescue team two months after firefighters were sent home from hurricane relief efforts because they had armed police officers with them.
Here is my original post on this subject when they were first suspended. In the post, I noted that FEMA shouldn't expect USAR teams to deploy without the proper police protection. It looks like they have come to the same conclusion.
Arizona Task Force 1 will be allowed to continue deploying Phoenix police deputized as U.S. marshals "as long as they wear U.S. marshals' uniforms," FEMA officials said.FEMA's decision to allow armed police, despite a rule against carrying firearms, applies only to Phoenix's team. But the agency left open the possibility that the city's model would be adopted on a broader scale.
I'm all for this change in policy. I'm betting that this will become the model to follow for all of the USAR teams and perhaps for all mutual aid resources that are dispatched to large incidents. Especially where the safety of the responders could be compromised by criminals or rioting.
