When lives are at stake and seconds count, the smallest miscommunication can be deadly.

First responders across the country learned this at a great cost on 9-11.
One of the nation’s deadliest attacks spawned a unity among fire departments that led to improved communication, joint training and shared practices.
Lake Travis Fire Rescue Lt. Ben Sanders said this network played a vital role the morning of Feb. 18 in saving lives and containing the fire caused by the plane crash that killed two people and injured several more and ignited a fire at the Echelon 1 building in North Austin.
As the first engine company on the scene, Sanders and Firefighter Matt Benson and Engineer Matthew Brake of LTFR Engine 604 relied on this support system to make critical decisions in the early minutes of the fire.
They could have been fish out of water in rushing from their training site at the Dave & Buster’s parking lot across Highway 183 to respond to an incident in Austin, but Sanders said their familiarity with Austin Fire Department’s tactics, personnel and communications contributed to the overall effectiveness of the multi-agency force.
“Given the circumstances and the outcome, everybody did a good job. It was a seamless operation,” Sanders said. “Everybody just blended into together and did their job. I couldn’t be more proud to be a firefighter on that day than I was.”
LTFR Assistant Fire Chief Robert Abbott, who traveled to the fire and supported the engine company, noted that firefighters from the various departments engaged in fire suppression and rescue efforts seamlessly because of an automatic aid agreement with the City of Austin.
“If we weren’t using the same playbook, it could have been problematic,” Abbott said.
The LTFR engine company was in Austin to participate in Hazmat monitor training with members of Oak Hill, Westlake and Pflugerville fire departments when Stack’s Piper Cherokee PA-28-236 Dakota struck the Echelon 1 building in the 9400 block of Research Boulevard.
Sanders said he was inside a trailer examining the monitors when other firefighters started yelling that they had seen a plane go down behind some tall buildings and a giant plume of fire and black smoke immediately shoot into the sky.
“The training leader knew what had happened and he started hollering, ‘Get in your truck and go!’” he recalled. “I knew this was going to be a big one because of the huge amount of fire and smoke already being produced.”
They knew that several Austin Fire Department units were battling the house fire, so they would likely be the first engine to arrive. Usually, LTFR brings a trailer to the training sessions, but on this day Sanders’ company got clearance to take the department’s new fire engine out for a spin and show off the new wheels. Little did they know, it would be more than show and tell that morning.
“The pressure was on,” Sanders said.
The four-department squad dodged airplane parts strewn across the frontage road and motorists pulling off to the side to watch the scene. Upon arriving in the parking lot, they made their way through a sea of broken glass and survivors either streaming from the building or standing motionless in disbelief.
Thick smoke and flames jabbed the air as Sanders made one of the most critical decisions of his 14-year career.
“I knew how many people survived this fire depended on how we approached it. The first thing I told my crew was we’re going to help these people get out by getting this fire out,” he said.
Because the 16-person, one-engine team was undermanned and under-strength, Sanders directed crews to suppress the fire using a defensive strategy from outside the building.
The squad also faced shifting winds and a position 15 feet below the grade of the building, which limited them to spraying water above the first floor.
His situation report also would dictate how incoming units responded to the situation.
“I hope my tone of voice and my sizeup gave incoming units confidence in me and the job we were about to do,” Sanders said.
Rather than dive into one specific role, the lieutenant assessed the overall scene by conducting a ‘hot lap,’ or run around the building to identify threats and direct resources.
“I needed to get a bigger picture of what was going on,” he said.
As he rounded the first corner he saw five people on the second floor leaning outside broken windows to try to inhale clean, fresh air as black smoke billowed from behind them and glass installer and repairer Robin De Haven braced a ladder to rescue them.
The sight tested Sanders’ resolve.
“I asked myself, ‘Am I really seeing this?’ I’ve been in the fire department for almost 14 years and I’ve never come across someone trapped in a building. I knew this is not part of the training or drill. This is the real deal,” he recalled.
Unfazed and focused on minimizing the loss of life and additional loss of property, Sanders then directed a newly arrived ladder truck to set up a second evacuation route.
He credited De Haven with initiating the rescue.
“He had a better response time than we did. There was no doubt in my mind that his presence of mind and actions saved lives,” Sanders said.
Despite their response time and reaction, Sanders wished their suppression efforts could have put a severe dent in the fire’s severity.
Crews searched desperately for a fire hydrant as they exhausted their engine’s water supply and that of one other. No hydrants existed on the frontage road within 500 feet of each side of the building, Sanders said, but they eventually tapped into one in the Echelon building’s parking lot.
Also, the weight of water on upper floors concerned a safety official who asked all units to move away from potential collapse zone. Engineers eventually checked for structural stability and gave the go ahead to resume firefighting operations.
“We were not able to put the fire out immediately. It was really my wish we would get most of fire out with these two engines,” Sanders said.
As they fought on, a disconcerting truth spread through the ranks.
Early on, the crews believed the plane crash was accidental but when they discovered that the other fire was at Stack’s house, it put them on alert.
“That raised our suspicions. We thought, ‘Uh oh, this wasn’t an accident. This was intentional,’” Sanders said.
The possibility of another attack entered his mind, but he said he felt safe because of the security network backing him and his crews.
“It’s because of lessons learned around the country by everybody — fire, police, Homeland Security — I knew that we were protected. If anything was going to happen, all eyes were on Austin at that time,” he said.
As more firefighting and command units arrived, the chain of authority shifted under the National Incident Management System and LTFR firefighters and their Hazmat brethren engaged in a more general attack.
Sanders said he was relieved to relinquish command to Westlake and Oak Hill Fire Chief Garry Warren, the first fire chief to arrive at the scene. Warren later handed command over to Austin fire chiefs when they arrived.
LTFR Engine 604 battled the fire and rescued survivors for two hours before more crews arrived to handle the situation that Sanders looked back on Monday with greater perspective.
“You see things on the news and read about disasters around the world, but until you have actually seen some major tragedy, it’s really hard to imagine,” he said.