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U.S. border delay kept fire crew from blaze
Quote:
U.S. border delay kept fire crew from blaze
INGRID PERITZ
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
November 15, 2007 at 1:10 AM EST
MONTREAL — The Quebec firefighters were trying to help put out a blaze at a restaurant in the United States. Their nerve-racking delay at the border ignited a furor instead.
Six volunteer firefighters rushing to assist a small-town fire department in upper New York State, part of a long-standing mutual-aid agreement, were held up while being grilled about their identification by a U.S. Customs official this week.
The six-man crew from the border town of Lacolle raced toward the border in a yellow fire truck, lights flashing, at about midnight on Sunday.
In the past, U.S. border guards have waved them through. This time, a customs official questioned and delayed them by between eight and 15 minutes, according to differing accounts.
Fire chief Jean-Pierre Hébert, right, and his crew prepare for work at the fire station in Lacolle, Que., Wednesday. The firefighters were delayed by U.S. customs officials at the border on Sunday while en route to a blaze in Rouses Point, N.Y. (Ian Barrett for The Globe and Mail)
Envoy says border turning into parking lot
Meanwhile, the landmark Anchorage Inn in Rouses Point, N.Y., burned to the ground.
“I've been crossing this border for 30 years, and the only question we were ever asked was: ‘Where's the fire?'” Lacolle fire chief Jean-Pierre Hébert told The Globe and Mail Wednesday.
“This time, we got someone zealous. He told us we'd need our passports next time.”
Tightly bound border communities have bailed out one another in emergencies for decades, with first responders crisscrossing the boundary with minimal scrutiny hundreds of times.
Now officials wonder whether increased border security cost the firefighters precious minutes. Mr. Hébert said fires double in intensity about every minute. The six Quebeckers showed their firefighter photo ID but were told it wasn't good enough because it didn't have a date of birth or expiration date, Mr. Hébert said.
“It's gotten harder since 9/11,” the fire chief said. “We don't blame the United States – they say they've got to protect their borders – but we were going over there to help. When you're answering a call at midnight, all you think about is putting on your pants. You don't think about taking your wallet.”
After the Lacolle fire truck cleared the border, two more fire trucks followed from the border community of Saint-Paul-de-L'Île-aux-Noix. Fire director Gilles Bastien said his firefighters were also asked for identification for the first time ever. He said the delay lasted two minutes.
Cross-border backup is considered crucial for smaller and rural communities without the manpower and equipment of big cities. George A. Rivers, the mayor of Rouses Point, says his village of 2,400 relies on Quebec border towns; Lacolle, only 12 kilometres away, is nearer than local American communities, he said.
“We're talking about public safety here. These are good firefighters [from Quebec]. But since 9/11, the U.S. has closed up its borders tight. We need to work out a program.”
A U.S. Customs official linked the Sunday delay to concerns over the admissibility of one Quebec firefighter. “That prompted some additional checks. Once it was determined he was admissible, he and everyone else was permitted to proceed,” said Kevin Corsaro, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman.
While Mr. Hébert said the delay lasted 10 or 15 minutes, Mr. Corsaro said it lasted under eight minutes.
“We have to know every individual that enters this country,” Mr. Corsaro said. “We understand it's necessary to process emergency crews as expeditiously as possible. However, this agency has the primary mission of protecting America and securing our borders.”
Officials from both sides of the border met in Rouses Point Wednesday, and Mr. Hébert said American officials gave assurances Sunday's slowdown was an isolated event that would not be repeated. Still, the incident underscored growing concerns about tougher rules and growing delays at the border, and sparked calls both in Canada and the U.S. for clear-cut rules for emergency responders.
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said the delay left firefighting crews in Rouses Point without badly needed backup.
“Sunday's blaze at the Anchorage restaurant has made it crystal clear that we need a better system for moving first responders across so that communities like Rouses Point can have the resources they need in life or death situations, where minutes matter,” Sen. Schumer said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr. Rivers, a board member with the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs, said Sunday's was not an entirely isolated incident, either. A U.S. firefighter returning from battling a blaze in Quebec was detained recently over his identification upon returning home, he said. Crossing into Canada has not been a problem, Mr. Rivers said.
Several people raised the risk of damage or loss of a passport at the scene of a blaze.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has also raised concerns this year with Washington about travel-document requirements, including for emergency responders. Worries are intensifying because of a planned crackdown next year that would require passports for land crossings.
“We asked that the United States establish protocols for the travel of medical, firefighting and other emergency service providers between Canada and the United States,” Mélisa Leclerc, spokeswoman for Mr. Day, said in an e-mail yesterday.
“In times of emergency, all levels of government in Canada and the United States have co-operated in the interests of their citizens.”
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11-15-2007, 09:26 AM
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