Chief Leader

UFA Blasts FDNY 'Smart Mic' Delay

Many firefighters have been using smart mics in an FDNY pilot program, and firefighters all over the city will get the new devices shortly. But the union argued that the policy's full implementation was unreasonably delayed, and that the department moved forward only after an incident involving Firefighter Robert Grover of Ladder Company 143 in Queens.

The UFA said that he was responding to a fire on Feb. 26 when he had to reach under his coat to make a Mayday call on his Motorola radio. Unable to find the button, he removed his gloves, leaving him with severe burns on his hands.

'They Wait for Disaster'

"How long does it take them to resolve what is clearly a critical safety issue for Firefighters?" asked UFA President Steve Cassidy last week. "The answer is they always wait until a disaster happens."

In 2005 the department started a pilot program for the smart mics on its radios for fire companies in Brooklyn, which was later expanded to companies in The Bronx and parts of Queens. Department records have shown that the FDNY believed there were problems with the smart mics that needed to be addressed before the system could go citywide, including software flaws. But Mr. Cassidy saw these as minor problems that could have been easily corrected.

"They certainly did not get the program done in a timely fashion," he said. Deputy Chief Richard Alles, who chairs the Uniformed Fire Officers Association's safety committee, agreed with Mr. Cassidy's assessment.

"I don't know who to blame more: Motorola's incompetence or our own department dragging its feet," he said. "Clearly the technology can't be all that difficult. I've spoken to officers in the field in those units and they're very happy with it."

A Change in Plants

Capt. Tony Catalanotto of the department's Fire Operations Unit, who has been working on the smart mics, denied the UFA's accusations.

"The decision to go citywide was made sometime last year," he said. "The unfortunate problem was the manufacturer changed manufacturing plants, so we went from plant A to plant B. So there was a decision to put in a small order from the new plant under the same specifications that we had finally agreed that we liked, and we sat around and waited for the new plant to give us an order."

Chief FDNY spokesman Francis X. Gribbon added that the department has been working to address issues with the system, including ensuring that the smart mic could withstand high water-pressure.

"This has been in the works for several years, and in fact the UFA has been part and parcel of the process of evaluating testing and approving this device, and it was not until we were completely satisfied with it that we are issuing it," he said.

He added that it was unclear that the incident involving Firefighter Grover was related to his lack of a smart mic, especially considering that firefighters are not supposed to remove their gloves when they are responding to a fire.

"We don't know how he got burned," Mr. Gribbon said. "This is premature at best."

But Mr. Cassidy maintained that Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta has a track record of being reluctant to implement occupational safety improvements in the department until someone gets hurt on the job.

"That's a good thing, but it should have been done a year ago," Mr. Cassidy said about the prospect of all firefighters getting smart mics. "Only when he is forced does he do the right thing."

Mr. Gribbon responded that Mr. Cassidy was well aware for the last several years of the department's efforts to perfect the smart mics and its intention to equip all firefighters with them.

"If he's saying there was a delay, where was the UFA?" Mr. Gribbon said. "Steve could not be more wrong about this and he knows it, because his union has been involved in this project."