Medicine Hat fire marshal reflects on 9/11 and its lasting impact on emergency services

“It was very apparent that they were watching as the first plane hit the towers,” Hanelt recalled.

Then the second plane struck.

“And right there, I think everybody knew that this was not a mere coincidence and another accident,” he said.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, along with the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, quickly changed the course of the day — and the world.

The impact was felt across Canada, including in southeastern Alberta.

Hanelt remembers Canadian airspace being shut down and increased security around Canadian Forces Base Suffield.

“Even Suffield, the military blockade at Suffield, from the highway towards the base was completely barricaded with armed people,” he said.

“There was no access to that.”

A year later, a trip to New York

Hanelt’s connection to the events continued the following year.

In 2002, he and retired Medicine Hat platoon chief Tom Coffey were selected to attend a one-year memorial in New York City.

The trip was funded by the owner of a local Pizza Hut at the time, who paid for the firefighters’ transportation.

Hanelt and Coffey joined more than 77,000 firefighters who travelled to New York for the memorial.

The experience was emotional, with the remnants of a hurricane bringing wind and rain to the city.

“It was a very somber experience, but it was overwhelming,” Hanelt said. “But I’m sure glad that I was able to attend it.”

The pair also visited New York fire stations, including stations that had suffered significant losses on Sept. 11.

They spoke with firefighters, exchanged stories and gained a firsthand understanding of what the city’s emergency responders had experienced.

Hanelt said the support extended well beyond the fire service.

He remembers New Yorkers offering free food and transportation to visiting firefighters.

“As soon as they found out you were a firefighter attending the memorial, you were — I mean, subways, taxis, vendors,” he said.

“I stopped to get a piece of pizza, and I had a fire hall shirt on, and they just give you free pizza.”

Hanelt and Coffey also visited an area near the World Trade Center site, where they could see the scale of the foundations and excavation before the site was redeveloped.

“It was surreal,” Hanelt said.

At a nearby church, photographs, memorabilia and fire department badges had been placed around the perimeter.

Hanelt brought badges from Medicine Hat and added them to the collection.

Lasting changes to firefighting

While 9/11 remains associated with enormous loss of life and tragedy, Hanelt said the response also accelerated changes across the Canadian fire service.

He identified four broad areas where emergency response evolved: operational coordination, hazardous-materials preparedness, technology and communications, and firefighter health and safety.

One major change was a move toward more formalized all-hazards and unified-command models.

Fire, police and EMS agencies increasingly needed to coordinate their responses rather than operate independently during large-scale or complex emergencies.

The attacks also contributed to changes in building and fire-safety standards, including greater attention to structural integrity, mass notification and evacuation procedures.

Hazardous-materials training and preparedness also expanded.

Hanelt received specialized training related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats, known collectively as CBRNE.

He spent time in Ottawa at the military and police college before completing additional training at CFB Suffield.

He said emergency services also developed more regionalized approaches to hazardous-materials response, allowing smaller communities to access specialized resources when needed.

Firefighters themselves have also received more specialized training and equipment.

Hanelt said Medicine Hat firefighters are trained beyond basic hazardous-materials awareness and operations, with members trained to the technician level.

Equipment, including personal protective equipment and breathing apparatus, has also evolved to provide greater protection from hazardous substances.

Communications and firefighter health

There has been significant change in technology and communications as well.

Hanelt said emergency services moved away from older analog communication systems toward more advanced digital systems, improving the ability of fire, police and EMS personnel to communicate during incidents.

But some of the most important changes have involved firefighter health.

The psychological impact of 9/11 highlighted the need for greater mental-health support for emergency responders.

Hanelt said peer support, critical incident stress management and post-traumatic stress supports have become more prominent throughout the emergency-services community.

Medicine Hat’s Critical Incident Stress Management team, for example, was deployed to help emergency personnel following the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire.

He added that there is also a greater awareness of the long-term health risks associated with firefighting.

Hanelt pointed to increased attention to carcinogen exposure, on-scene decontamination and routine medical screening for firefighters.

He said changes to presumptive cancer legislation have also provided additional protections for firefighters and their families.

“It takes some type of event sometimes like that to move the needle,” Hanelt said.

A profession shaped by 9/11

Hanelt, who will mark 36 years in the fire service on Sept. 25, said the events of 9/11 also influenced a generation of people who chose careers in emergency services.

In the years following the attacks, he said he encountered young people who told him watching the events unfold had inspired them to become firefighters.

The attacks also reinforced the importance of cooperation between emergency-service agencies, he said.

“Although that’s one of the worst events that we’ve had and seen in our lifetime, I try to look at the positive results that resulted from that,” Hanelt said.

Those changes, he added, have helped make firefighters more effective while improving protections for emergency responders.

Hanelt said the anniversary is an opportunity to remember those who died while also recognizing the lessons that emerged from the tragedy.

“We do unsafe work,” he said, adding that improvements in training, equipment, mental-health supports and occupational protections help ensure firefighters can continue doing their jobs safely.

For Hanelt, the memories of his visit to New York remain particularly powerful.

He still keeps in contact with some of the firefighters he met during the trip, including colleagues he later worked with through additional training in fire investigation.

The 25th anniversary, he said, is a reminder of both the enormous loss caused by the attacks and the importance of remembering the emergency responders who answered the call.

“It was overwhelming, but I sure am glad that I got to partake in it,”Hanelt said.

by Jesse Gill

Medicine Hat fire marshal reflects on 9/11 and its lasting impact on emergency services

A year later, a trip to New York

Lasting changes to firefighting

Communications and firefighter health

A profession shaped by 9/11

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