Reply #52: Munchkin fire trucks? [View All]

[DulceDecorum]

http://www.defenselink.mil/photos/Oct1997/971022-D-9880W-048.html

CLARKE: Then the Arlington County fire chief, Ed Plaugher, which is P-L-A-U-G-H-E-R.
PLAUGHER: Good morning.
As you can see for yourselves, we are still engaged in a very stubborn fire fight with parts of the building. We have recently requested some additional specialized apparatus that will gain entry into the center courtyard of the Pentagon, and we're bringing additional specialized individuals very highly trained in this type of fire fighting.
http://www.patriotresource.com/wtc/federal/0912/DoD.html

HOW do fire trucks ROUTINELY get into the center courtyard?

I tried to get him to sit, but just as he was lowering himself to a bench, three Pentagon security officers, who had walkie-talkies, began to shout.
"There’s another hijacked plane inbound! It’s headed this way and we have five minutes to impact!"
The mood in the yard had been intense but purposeful. Now it turned to panic.
No one knew where to go. Where was safety?
The three most-wounded were lifted onto orange utility trucks and driven back into the building, away from the fire. Medics ran alongside, worked grimly to hold pressure bandages in place as the carts careened for THE GROUND-LEVEL TUNNELS THAT MARK EACH CORNER OF THE COURTYARD.
Everyone else headed for the walls as the security screamed out a count-down of the estimated time to impact.
<snip>
All through that morning, volunteers trickled back into the courtyard until there were more than 100 people. A two-star general officer, a surgeon, arranged triage teams.
If victims aren’t breathing well, don’t bother to insert plastic tubes down their throat, or intubate, the surgeon the told the "red," or critical, team.
"The smoke will have swollen their breathing passages shut. Go straight for a tracheotomy," he said. "But don’t cut into anyone’s throat unless you know what you’re doing."
No one laughed, because he wasn’t joking.
Then we waited.
The smoke got worse and the crowd began coughing, but no one left. Two men took an ax to the soda machines in the snack bars, and the cold drinks were passed, with firefighters getting priority. The used cans and bottles were filled with a hose and refilled again and again by self-appointed teams.
Still we waited. Not a single person had emerged since the initial trickle of victims.
Finally, at 3 p.m., firefighters declared the center courtyard as the morgue, and the volunteers were sent out to the main medical staging area, where the plane had crashed.
http://www.stripes.com/01/sep01/ed091301l.html

MORGUE would be correct.