InfoGram 27-07: July 12, 2007

This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

Mitigating the Insider Threat

Federal government sources define the insider threat as "the threat posed by an employee, former employee, or individual who has intimate knowledge of, or access to, a facility or sensitive, classified or proprietary information that can be used in the execution of criminal or terrorist activity." These same intelligence sources confirm there are over 700 extremist groups in the United States, most of which operate secretively with an unidentified constituency. Very likely, members of these clandestine organizations are employed in all critical infrastructure sectors of the nation and, therefore, should be considered a viable insider threat to the organizations of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS).

The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) accepts that thorough background checks, where they occur, eliminate the possibility of a known extremist being employed as a first responder. Nevertheless, a prospective employee's participation in a secretive or terrorist cluster may be unknown to law enforcement and investigative agencies. Therefore, an emergency responder who is an active member of a criminal or jihadist group presents a real danger to the critical infrastructures of his/her employer. With access to key personnel, physical resources, communication/cyber assets, standard operating procedures, emergency plans, etc., malevolent-minded individuals have ample opportunities for intelligence collection, sabotage, or worse.

As a mitigation measure, the EMR-ISAC suggests ESS junior and senior leaders become closely acquainted with their subordinates including the attitudinal and behavioral status of each person. Unfortunately, to reduce the insider threat it is now necessary to be especially attentive to the words and deeds of co-workers, while listening for unusual comments and watching for suspicious actions. The EMR-ISAC also recommends the implementation of an anonymous system for reporting security violations. A nameless procedure can encourage employees to come forward and keep whistle-blowers safe from reprisals. Employees may be more inclined to report breaches if they know their identity will remain confidential.

Injury and Death Prevention

Recognizing the distress caused by line-of-duty injuries and the disturbance resulting from line-of-duty deaths, the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) continues to research recommendations for injury and death prevention in the performance of first responder duties. When visiting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Website, the EMR-ISAC extracted the following proposals for Emergency Services Sector departments and agencies involved in responding to incidents of violence:

• Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for responses to violent situations.
• Develop integrated emergency communication systems including the ability to directly relay real-time information between the caller and dispatch, and also among all responding emergency personnel.
• Provide body armor or bullet-resistant personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Train with and consistently enforce the use of body armor or bullet-resistant PPE when responding to potentially violent situations.
• Ensure all emergency response personnel have the capability for continuous radio contact and consider providing portable communication equipment that has integrated hands-free capabilities.
• Consider requiring emergency dispatch centers to incorporate the ability to archive location and individual historical data, and provide pertinent information to responding organizations.
• Develop coordinated response guidelines for violent situations and hold joint training sessions with all ESS organizations within a jurisdiction.

Vacant Building Hazard

Emergency Services Sector (ESS) members across the United States are injured every year during responses to vacant buildings. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that over 12,000 fires annually in vacant or abandoned properties result in approximately 6,000 injuries to responders, more than in any other property classification. Consequently, the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) examined this hazard to the personnel component of ESS critical infrastructures.

The number of vacant and abandoned structures in a jurisdiction can vary from about one hundred to several thousand. These buildings are problematic because they typically attract vagrants and drug users. In some areas, blocks with vacant structures have three times as many drug calls as blocks without such buildings. Thieves steal copper and fixtures, creating openings in walls and floors, and sometimes causing serious gas leaks. Unless repairs are made, responses to these addresses endanger emergency personnel. Many of the buildings contain dangerous quantities of trash and combustibles. Also compounding the danger is that several vacant structures are next to occupied homes, separated by narrow alleys. Furthermore, vacant properties often house homeless people and others, necessitating search and rescue efforts in these "Pandora's boxes" of multiple hazards.

Tearing them down is time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, cities have experimented with various programs intended to target the properties. One municipality created a "Fire Damaged Properties Team" to force owners of burned-out buildings to repair or demolish them. If owners refuse to comply, they are taken to court, and a lien is placed on the property to cover demolition costs. In another city, with nearly 3,000 properties on its "blight" list, a website was created to allow local officials to follow and track the locations and for citizens to report activities at these places. Some cities require owners of vacant buildings to register them with the building and codes department for oversight. Certain fire departments conduct annual inspections of all known vacant buildings to check hazards, have combustibles removed, ensure the buildings are secured against illegal entry, and the address is posted.

In every locality, responders must have access to accurate inventories of these properties so they can be noted for plans and operations. To inform personnel about the inspection and dangers of blighted structures, the U.S. Fire Administration and the International Association of Arson Investigators created the Abandoned Building Project, a free, downloadable training resource that includes community strategies, and sample ordinance and Memorandum of Understanding documents. The program, with lesson plans and additional resources, is available at interFIRE Online.

Wildfire Planning Assistance

This week wildfires are burning in seven states. Utah is battling the biggest wildland fire in its history, as did Georgia , where its largest fire ever was fought recently for two months with the assistance of Emergency Services Sector (ESS) members from 44 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The cost to fight the Georgia fire was more than $44 million. In California, just one of the state's recent wildfires injured 11 responders.

Wildfires have been and continue to be a major threat to the critical infrastructures of numerous local, state, and national critical infrastructures. Additionally, the dangers, destruction, and expense of these fires are becoming nearly year-round challenges for responder organizations. Considering such realities, the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) researched and located a new source of assistance to guide fire leaders and local officials in developing community wildfire protection plans (CWPPs) and reviewing key features of existing plans.

The U. S. Forest Service, Southern Research Station, in cooperation with Louisiana State University , recently added a new information section to the National Database of State and Local Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Programs website. The site's searchable format allows stakeholders to review existing CWPPs as they formulate strategies to address wildfire vulnerability in their jurisdictions. Communities that meet Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) criteria receive priority consideration for projects and treatment areas identified in CWPPs, and a voice in the federal government's process for selecting wildfire mitigation projects on adjacent public lands. To be HFRA compliant, a CWPP must include stakeholder collaboration in plan development, identification and prioritization of areas for fuel reduction treatments, and recommendations of measures to reduce structure ignitability.

The National Database of State and Local Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Programs serves as a clearinghouse of information about nonfederal policies and programs that seek to reduce the risk of loss of life and property by reducing hazardous fuels. The database currently has information on 232 programs, with content added regularly, that could aid ESS critical infrastructure protection efforts.