Would-be Rescuers turned into FEMA's PR flaks

Rescuers turned into PR flaks
Latest FEMA outrage has 1,400 firefighters in sex-harassment training
Posted: September 7, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

As politicians and commentators assign blame for the slow response to the vast human needs caused by Hurricane Katrina, most fingers are pointing in the direction of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with the latest outrage involving the recruitment of hundreds of eager firefighters who ended up being assigned as PR flaks instead of rescuers.

In Atlanta, FEMA gathered 1,400 firefighters from around the nation to help in disaster relief, but some were dismayed to learn that rather than helping to rescue or assist victims they would be dispatched as community-relations officers to hand out leaflets with the agency's phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

According to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune, the firefighters sat in a muggy hotel conference room Sunday receiving sexual-harassment training when they had hoped to be on the front lines.

On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area in Atlanta peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.

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