Ala. Fire Departments Feel Uninformed About Oil Spill

The Baldwin County Fire Chiefs Association sent a letter to BP as well as Alabama Governor Bob Riley Wednesday concerning their lack of involvement in the oil spill crisis. "We are very disturbed at the total lack of information and absolute lack of response for information from the BP and the Unified Command", the letter stated.

"It appears that there is a policy to keep local professionals as far from this disaster response as possible." The letter from the president of the association, Gib Hixon, explains that the local fire departments feel purposely left out when it comes to receiving critical information. Hixon also stated that emergency workers get more information about the spill from news coverage than from the company or officials at the command set up to handle coastal protection systems and the cleanup.

The letter also said, "Interestingly our services are free or at most cost reimbursable. you have chosen to use commercial operations at exorbitant costs...To be kept totally out of the loop in this disaster makes no sense. Our citizens have come to expect a high level of response from us. With us having no information for them we are not meeting their needs. They deserve better than they are getting." The Baldwin County Fire Chiefs Association is a 36-member organization. The letter specifically requested that the local fire departments be kept informed "at the highest levels". "To keep us uninvolved and uninformed is irresponsible and unacceptable."