What aspects of 9/11 have had an impact on your department?

In London, 9/11 led to an immediate review of emergency preparations and by late 2001, the Government Minister for London had established the London Resilience Team. The Team’s remit was to examine the preparedness of London’s key organisations – including London Fire Brigade – along with their interdependencies, command and control, coordination and communications.

The Team presented a report to Government in March 2002 and this acknowledged that, though London had tried and tested arrangements for conventional major incidents, the new range and scale of threats demanded a change in our level of preparedness and response capability.
As a result of this work, London Fire Brigade has enhanced the way we prepare, and our capability to respond to terror incidents.

How has the growing threat of terrorism changed your department’s policies, training, and equipment?
Since 9/11, London Fire Brigade has introduced a range of policies, training and equipment, both as part of a national Government programme called “New Dimension” and our own London Resilience Project.

Capabilities introduced under New Dimension include High Volume Pumps, Detection, Identification and Monitoring equipment, Mass Decontamination Units and Urban Search and Rescue teams. A key feature of the programme is its national coordination arrangements, and though London holds a wide range of equipment supplied under the scheme, this could be mobilised to neighbouring areas if needed.

London Fire Brigade specific projects have led to the introduction of new Scientific Support Units (mobile laboratories), additional Fire Rescue Units (carrying equipment for complicated rescues involving ropes/lines, and water rescue) and the introduction of Motorised Rescue Trolleys, which allow rescues to be carried out on the underground rail network by firefighters.

This wide range of equipment is complemented with new training programmes, delivered both within London and also through realistic 36-hour exercises at venues like the UK’s Fire Service College in Gloucestershire.
What are the next stages in your terrorism preparedness plans?

Every area of our ability to respond to a terror incident is constantly under review and we will continue to train our staff and improve our equipment. We will also continue to take part in a range of multi-agency training and exercises.
Recent developments include new personal protective equipment for our Urban Search and Rescue crews, and we are about to take delivery of “Firelink” which replaces the Brigade’s existing radio system with the TETRA digital radio system provided by Airwave. This will improve our ability to communicate at major incidents.

Please provide details of inter-departmental terrorist attack training:
We regularly exercise with our partner agencies (such as London Underground, London Ambulance Service and the Metropolitan Police). Since 9/11 major multi-agency exercises have included a simulated chemical attack on Bank Station (a London Underground station), a simulated CBRN incident at a sports stadium and the international counter-terrorism exercise Atlantic Blue.

Aside from the major exercises highlighted, we have a rolling programme of multi-agency training, covering both terror attacks and other major civil emergencies.

What have been the most challenging policies/training regimes to introduce, in the context of this type of threat?
The range of new equipment introduced to the London Fire Brigade following 9/11 was unprecedented. All of the equipment required the introduction of new policies and training for significant numbers of staff. Dedicated project management arrangements were introduced to ensure that the equipment was introduced safely and with minimum delay.

What are considered to be specific hazards in your city and surrounding areas?

As a capital city, we face a unique level of threat from terrorism. London Fire Brigade provides a fire and rescue service for the whole of Greater London, which includes important centres of commerce like the City of London and Docklands, two major airports, a large road/rail network (including the London Underground) and hundreds of popular leisure and tourist venues. Throughout the year London hosts major events such as the London Marathon and Notting Hill Carnival, and we are currently preparing for the 2012 Olympics.

Aside from terrorism, we must also plan for major civil incidents like transport crashes, emergencies involving significant buildings or industrial sites and the consequences of extreme weather.

Have you had any incidents in the recent past? If so how did you respond and what have you learned from it?

In July 2005, terrorists detonated bombs on three London Underground trains and a London bus, killing 52 people.
This incident provided a major challenge, as four scenes of operations meant that our command and control arrangements had to work effectively. Crews were sent to Aldgate Station (10 fire appliances, four Fire Rescue Units and around 70 firefighters), Kings Cross Station (12 fire appliances, one Fire Rescue Unit and around 65 firefighters), Edgware Road Station (12 fire appliances, four Fire Rescue Units and around 80 firefighters) and Tavistock Square (four fire appliances and around 20 firefighters).

On the day of the attacks, our preparations and training came together well and we were proud of the way we worked alongside other emergency services. Our decision-making process was effective and despite the need to deploy a wide range of resources we also maintained emergency cover for the whole city. We were also encouraged by the performance of our Motorised Rescue Trolleys, used for the first time, which allowed our crews to work at the scene of the incidents on the underground railway network.

Inevitably, we also learned lessons. For instance, we experienced difficulty in putting appliances and equipment back into operational service, particularly as each of the incidents was designated as a crime scene and appliances and equipment had to be impounded. This led to work indentifying how we should manage our resources if a similar incident occurred again. We also became aware that we needed to resolve some staffing issues, such as the way we deal with firefighters who volunteer to come in off duty, and the number of senior officers available to deal with a major incident. We also felt that 7/7 identified a need to expand our fleet of Fire Rescue Units, and consequently we introduced six further vehicles in 2007.

Could you describe your philosophy behind terrorism response in three words?
Alert not alarmed.

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