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Monterey CA - August 2011

Times Square Case Highlights FDNY’s Counterterrorism Mission

Something did not look right.

When the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) responded to a reported car fire in Times Square May 1, 2010, firefighters noticed some things seemed a bit askew.

That determination was no accident. Sure, part of it may have been gut intuition. But concluding that the smoke that was emanating from the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder was because of an explosive was the result of FDNY’s years-long foray into counterterrorism.

"The question is how do you come to a conclusion that something doesn’t look right," said FDNY Assistant Chief Joseph Pfeifer, who serves as the Chief for Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness and is a graduate of CHDS. "The fire department has conducted extensive training of every member. It’s the cumulative effect of multiple pieces of information at scene and training on various levels that something didn’t look right for these guys."

Pfeifer was the first chief on the scene the morning of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. The tragedy set him on a new professional path. With the cooperation of the department’s commissioner, he founded and now directs the FDNY Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness. The center’s worth was proven on that May evening.

As a result of education and training, fire personnel on the scene were suspicious of the vehicle fire and alerted the bomb squad. Using thermal imaging, firefighters determined there was no adequate heat source to cause the white smoke and the area known popularly as "The Crossroads of the World" was evacuated. The city bomb squad later found the Pathfinder contained a homemade explosive device containing M-99 fireworks, three 20-pound propane cylinders, two filled five-gallon gas containers, fertilizer and two clocks.

"That conclusion was the cumulative effect of multiple pieces of information at the scene and training on various levels," Pfeifer said. "There is a cumulative effect from pointing out what takes place around the world, exercising response and then being able to make that part of their intuitive memory."

Intelligence and counterterrorism was for years the traditional domain of law enforcement. Establishing a counterterrorism center took vision, persistence and willingness to change the culture of fire safety professionals as well their would-be partners in the security enterprise. The result is a series of firsts for FDNY.

FDNY’s counterterrorism efforts had to earn a spot at the table of the city’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Pfeifer noted, by gaining security clearances. The first fire marshal to receive clearance did so in 2002, followed by Pfeifer and several others years later.

Several milestones have followed:

Pfeifer and staff wrote the FDNY’s first Terrorism Preparedness Strategy in 2007.

The Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness issues a weekly intelligence document called "Watchline" and Pfeifer receives regular briefings from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. "My job is to relay the information to nearly 16,000 members of the fire department," Pfeifer said.

In 2010 the first Marine Operations Strategy was published. FDNY is responsible for protecting 560 miles of waterfront around the city. To support its marine operation and combat potential threats, the department has a fleet of fire boats that were specially engineered to military standards at a cost of $27 million. The department consulted with experts from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement while developing the specifications.

The Counterterrorism Center conducts about 40 exercises per year. In conjunction with the National Fire Academy, the exercises are designed in house rather than developed by consultants, resulting in an 85 percent cost reduction for holding the exercises.

The department is developing an Electronic Command Board that would revolutionize emergency response. The board's hand-held computerized tablets enable incident commanders to see blueprints of buildings, direct assets and communicate easily with other agencies. That command board is being piloted and is scheduled to be deployed in 2012.

The lynchpin of FDNY’s counterterrorism efforts, said Pfeifer, is education. The department has partnered with the U.S. Military Academy in a Counterterrorism Leadership Program at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, where Pfeifer is a senior fellow.

Moreover, from its inception CHDS has enjoyed a long partnership with FDNY. There have been 19 master’s degree graduates from the department, four graduates of the Executive Leaders Program and there are currently four students enrolled in the master’s degree program. CHDS alumni Deputy Chief John Esposito, Battalion Chief Neil Hintze, Battalion Chief Robert Ingram and Captain Sean Neman work directly with Pfeifer.

"To do these sophisticated programs we need highly educated and dedicated people," Pfeifer said. "It plays a critical role in developing people who can run these programs."

Pfeifer lived that statement in the years following the 9/11 attacks, having earned his CHDS degree as well as a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He credits CHDS for cultivating a knowledge base to further the fire service’s role in homeland security by him and his staff, adding that each successive course has impacted how he does his job.

"We were able to communicate a message for change within the department and within the greater intelligence community," he said. "Not only does CHDS educate people and influence individual organizations, it also has an influence to improve national policy."

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