The first two or three hours of work by the local fire force will greatly determine the number of lives saved and the eventual outcome of the incident. It is critical that Congress and the federal government clearly understand the role of the local responder. I would like to submit, for the record, a terrorism response timeline which the IAFC has developed. It graphically shows the anticipated response of emergency forces - and clearly demonstrates that the local first responders are alone for the most critical hours. Federal response plans regarding terrorism are usually described in two roles - crisis management and consequence management.
Crisis management deals with the enormous task of trying to prevent an incident from occurring.
Consequence management concerns itself with planning for an incident before it happens, then recovery and rehabilitation after the event. It is that time when local first responders work alone. Both of these important laws contain provisions designed to help prepare local fire and emergency response organizations to better deal with acts of terrorism. These laws are implemented respectively by the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense. You will hear today from fire chiefs whose communities have been aided by both of these laws.