Unleashing Hell: Fire as a Terrorist’s Weapon
Opposing armies have employed fire as an effective weapon of war with devastating results for thousands of years. It was used against the United States by the Japanese in World War II when balloon bombs were launched from Japan to ignite fires on the west coast. Unfortunately for the Japanese, who did not understand the weather patterns associated with the west coast fire season, the balloons that reached the U.S. had limited success; however, the random nature of the balloon bombs and the potential impact of the resulting fires did strike fear in the minds of many western residents. Terrorist organizations have a much better grasp of the utilization of fire as a weapon of mass destruction; they understand the psychological aspect that the threat of fire has on a vulnerable population, and they are actively seeking opportunities to utilize fire as a weapon.
Fire is an ideal choice of the terrorist for several reasons; it is cheap, it can be deployed with relatively little or no training, it is devastating and lethal, it can quickly overwhelm even well engineered defenses, it consumes huge amounts of public safety resources to combat, and it has great media appeal. An example of the cheap, easy and deadly attack is the Happy Land Night Club in New York, where containers of gasoline were ignited in the exit stairwells of the club killing eighty-seven people. Fire has been perhaps the most successful tool of terrorist in recent years but is often overlooked as the primary instrument of destruction. On September 11th the World Trade Center towers withstood the impact of large aircraft, but later succumbed to the effects of flammable liquid fueled fires. Had the fires not been as intense or the fire protection features not been disabled by the impact of the planes, the event would have been devastating, but the towers would likely have not collapsed and the loss of life would have been greatly reduced. Most recently, much has been discussed in Washington D.C. and in the media about the deadly attacks in Benghazi; four people, including Ambassador Stephens, were killed that night in a terrorist assault on the compound. While the media discussion is centered on armed terrorist with automatic weapons, mortars, and rocket propelled grenades, Stephens and a member of his security team were killed by exposure to products of combustion after the attackers set fire to the compound. Despite the reference to the terrorist and their weapons, the images shown over and over again by news media are those of a burning consulate building with flames coming from the windows. Fire has proven to be a devastating weapon.
Fire has also proven to be an effective weapon for striking a blow to the U.S. economy. Al Qaeda and other terror organizations consider wildfires to be an effective tool to both terrorize affected residents and a major drain on the economy due to the high cost of combating these massive fires. Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine published an article in 2012 with instructions on how to build “ember bombs” to turn the forest of Australia, Europe and the U.S. into raging infernos. Materials captured from the assault on Osama bin Laden’s compound revealed plans to ignite fires throughout the western U.S.; while detainees in U.S. custody have revealed similar plans to use wildfires to devastate the U.S. economy. In addition to the intelligence gathered by the U.S., British Intelligence (Mi6) recovered documents from a camp on the Afghan/Pakistan border detailing the desire to use wildfires to adversely affect the U.S. economy. Since these discoveries by the intelligence agencies, several fatwas calling for fire to be used as a cheap and easy means of conducting economic warfare have been issued. Interestingly, numerous wildfires in California, Colorado, and other western states in 2013 have been proven to be the result of arson, costing the U.S. government over one billion dollars in addition to state and local government expenditures for direct firefighting costs and untold billions in indirect costs.
The greatest concern of fire as a terrorist weapon stems for what has become known as the “Mumbai Style Attack.” In this style of attack there are typically multiple terrorist and targets employing various attack modalities including fire, improvised explosive devices, and firearms. This type of attack represents a significant challenge to emergency responders; traditionally law enforcement trains for scenarios involving active shooters, hostage situations, or barricaded suspects; the fire service trains in fire suppression where the primary threat is fire, structural collapse, and the products of combustion. The Mumbai Style Attack combines these threats by using fire, smoke and toxic gases to shield participants from law enforcement and it is unlikely fire and rescue personnel will enter a building for fire suppression while active or barricaded shooters are present. Traditional emergency response disciplines are ill prepared to handle this type of terrorist activity yet terrorist are counting on it to hinder an effective response, add longevity to the attack, and provide greater media coverage due to the appeal of fire and smoke to the television cameras.
The recent Urban Fire Forum of the Metropolitan Chiefs Association brought together chiefs of large metropolitan departments from multiple countries during which they approved a position statement on Fire and Smoke as a Weapon. The paper specifically addresses the Mumbai Style Attack and identifies the role of the fire service, law enforcement, and emergency medical services in planning for and responding to these types of events. A considerable amount of multi-discipline planning and training must take place to successfully mitigate these types of attacks. Fire has been and will continue to be a cheap, easy, and flashy weapon for terrorist; whether used as a primary weapon or in conjunction with other forms of assault our nation’s public safety agencies need to prepare for terrorist unleashing this devastating weapon known as fire.
