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Miracle from AboveThis story was written by Supervising Dispatcher Richard Pressler and appears in the Jan/Feb/Mar 2009 edition of 911 Magazine. Thursday January 15, 2009 was an unusually cold day in New York City. The air temperature was in the upper teens to the low twenties, the water temperature was 42 degrees; with a wind chill factor making it feel like 11 degrees. An Arctic clipper also came through producing a coating of snow. Besides bringing bitterly cold temperatures, the cold front also brought quite a bit of fire traffic. The firefighters and officers in the Fire Department of New York work 9 hour day tours and 15 hour night tours, most of them work a 24 hour tour. The dispatchers of the FDNY work 12 hours shifts starting and ending at seven. Dispatchers are only allowed to work 18 consecutive hours. The firefighter and officers who worked the night tour of January 14th and the day tour of January 15, 2009 were in for a busy 24 hours. The men and women of the Manhattan Communication Office were in for a busy day tour. However, they didn't realize how busy! ATYPICAL DAY
PLANE IN THE WATER
In order to expedite processing times the Fire Department of New York has instituted a program to prerelease an incident. Once the alarm receipt dispatcher gets a borough, an address, nature of the emergency and where in the building, they will prerelease the incident for dispatch. After the incident is prereleased, the dispatcher then will verify cross streets and obtain a call back number. At 1533 hours Manhattan received the first of several phone calls stating that a plane had just landed in the Hudson River, which is a tidal river that separates New York and New Jersey. Since this incident could be viewed by people in two states, 911 operators in New Jersey were also receiving calls. Subsequent phone calls to the Manhattan Central Office advised that the passengers were self evacuating the plane and were on the wings. The first call was processed and released to the companies in 31 seconds. Box 868 was transmitted for a plane in the water at W 50 Street and the Hudson River. Unlike many cities that base their responses on addresses, the New York City Fire Department is based on Box locations which experience has found to be simpler, faster and more efficient, thus the initial assignment for Box 868 also include Rescue 1 and Marine 1. (These units would have been assigned anyway because of the type of incident). . Since there is no set response for a plane in the water, the decision was made to send a full structural response in addition to the normally assigned Rescue, Marine company, normally assigned squad, the rescue battalion, the safety battalion, and a tactical support unit. Based on the calls reporting several people in the water and people on the wings of the plane, the Decision Dispatcher also started out a second rescue company. At 1536 Rescue 1, who is quartered 6 blocks from the incident, arrived and urgently confirmed a large aircraft in the water with numerous people in the water. Battalion 9, who was the original incident commander, based on the information received from Rescue 1 and confirmation from the Police Department of a commercial air liner in the water, transmitted a 10-60 Major Emergency* which also requires the transmission of 2nd Alarm. Due to the activity level, Manhattan was again placed into Fallback Step 3. While most of the Fire Department activities were centered on the main crash site there was also Mother Nature to deal with. 10-60 Major Emergency - provides the response of an enhanced 2nd alarm and is transmitted for a major collapse, plane crash (not associated with a crash box), train derailment or similar emergency with the potential for multiple casualties. The total response will be 8 Engines, 5 Trucks (one being the FAST Truck), 6 Battalion Chiefs (3rd due chief is Safety Officer; 6th due chief is Resource Unit Leader), 2 Deputy Chiefs, 2 Rescue Collapse Task Forces, 2 SOC Support Trucks, SOC logistics van, Squad 1 with is Technical Response Vehicle, 1 additional Squad, Rescue Battalion, Haz-Mat Battalion, Safety Battalion, Field Communications Unit, Satellite Unit with its associated Engine, RAC Unit, and a Mobile Command Center). Also a FDNY Battalion responds and meets NYPD Aviation to provide Air Recon. Since the Hudson River is a tidal river, the plane was actually moving south with the tide. Several commuter ferries were first on the scene and started rescuing passengers who were in the water and from the wings. Rescue 1 launched their zodiac boat, while Marine 1 responded first with their small boat and once the large boat obtained the needed manpower it also responded. Because of the complexity of the situation, the Fire Department of New York's marine division started out all of their boats. Marine 6 responded from its berth in Brooklyn while Marine 9, which is berthed in Staten Island, responded with manpower consisting of an Engine company, ladder company, a Battalion, and Rescue 5. The reason the third rescue responded on the boat is that all of the city's five rescues are SCUBA qualified and they wanted to assure back up divers were closer to the landing site. Due to the moving scene, incoming units on the 2nd alarm were split between the main crash site and to pier 80 which was where the ferries were docking with the rescued passengers. Division 3, who responded on the signal 10-60, became the incident commander at the preliminary landing/crash site. Division 1, which was the second deputy assigned on the 10-60, responded to Pier 80 and became the incident commander at that location. Because of the different locations received and based on the possibility of a large debris field, several additional boxes were sent out. Fire Department units were dispatched to W 187 Street and the Hudson River, W 135 Street and the Hudson River and W 96 Street and the Hudson River. In addition units were dispatched to the 30th Street heliport to assist with ferries and or helicopters that may be brining in victims. Since ferries were transporting the victims to either side of the river, the North Hudson Regional Fire Department also had a response to the Arthur's Landing dock in Weehawken NJ where they assisted EMS personnel in removing the injured. The North Hudson Regional Fire Department also dispatched a fire boat to assist in the rescue operation. In addition to the FDNY boats, there was also a response from the New York Police Department which included boats and helicopters as well as the United States Coast Guard. While the office was busy dealing with the plane crash, it also was dealing with the same weather related incidents that had been prevalent through out the day. In addition the dispatchers also had to provide coverage for the areas left empty by units responding to the plane crash. Throughout the incidents of the day over fifty relocations had taken place with thirty of them occurring for the plane crash. After the passengers and crew were rescued, there was still the plane to deal with. The plane had drifted with the current downstream where it eventually it was corralled and tethered to a dock at the south cove marina located in Battery Park City. Since the plane still had most of its fuel on board the Fire Department kept a foam unit and other equipment on the scene for several days. The units remained on the scene while governmental agencies conducted their investigation until the plane was removed out of the water and to a barge. Lessons Learned
Conclusion
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