On the evening of May 1, 2010, firefighters from Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854 in New York City got a call about a car fire in Times Square. Six minutes later, Lts. Mike Barvels and John Kazan arrived on the scene to find an SUV parked with one wheel on a curb, hazard lights blinking. The firefighters spotted a number of warning signs, most importantly the white, slow-moving smoke coming from the vehicle. They knew typical car fires involve dark, billowing smoke. Barvels and Kazan decided not to use their fire hose on the truck and instead called for experts to come investigate.

The SUV had been left by a man identified as Faisal Shahzad and contained a homemade car bomb, which was defused before New York could become the scene of another successful terrorist attack. The fact that the fire hose wasn't turned on the vehicle preserved evidence that was used by the FBI to quickly track down and arrest Shahzad, who later pled guilty to the attempted attack. Lt. Jim McGowan, a representative with Local 854, lauded the firefighters:

The actions and decisions made by Kazan and Barvels were cautious and textbook. Due to their firefighting experience and [anti-]terrorist training, they did not like what they saw, properly sized up the situation and saved the lives of FDNY [New York City Fire Department] firefighters and the public.”

This is an excerpt of the new AFL-CIO Innovators website feature Known Quantity: Firefighters Training Helps Demystify the Unknown. Read the rest here.