Partnering in Pennsylvania: Somerset County Responds

Rick Lohr and a group of fellow Somerset County, Pa., employees were gathered in their emergency services office, silently watching the horrific events unfold in New York when a phone call brought the tragedy home.

A plane had crashed just 12 miles away. Lohr, emergency services coordinator for Somerset County, took the 911 call.

"I remember my first reaction was, 'Are planes going to start dropping out of the sky?'" says Lohr.

A nine-year veteran of the office, Lohr soon learned that the downed plane was part of the unforgettable events taking place. Just 15 minutes away was the one plane that did not make it to its intended target because of the courageous passengers aboard.

Though history was in the making, Lohr remembers the less dramatic events associated with the now infamous date.

"When I look back on September 11, I don't remember anything but the non-stop tasks of the day," says Lohr. "At the time I didn't realize businesses had closed down for the day and that mail wasn't delivered. I arrived at the crash scene at 2:30 p.m. and basically spent the next two and a half weeks there around the clock, getting the resources needed."

Then-Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge designated the crash a state disaster. But, in fact, an integrated partnership of federal, state, and local agencies quickly coalesced and worked together at the site. Led by the FBI, the federal response partners included FEMA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, all of which contributed expertise and resources.

Lohr and his staff, along with the Pennsylvania Emergency Manage-ment Agency, were responsible for locating, acquiring, and coordinating the resources needed by the contingent of workers at the crash site.

"We processed more than 200 resource requests for items ranging from rubber gloves to shovels to recycling bins to portable toilets and sinks," says Lohr.

It was an enormous job that required a massive coordination effort -- not just of supplies, but of people, too.

Soon after the crash, FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh visited Somerset County to thank and commend all the workers for their hard work.

"Director Allbaugh's visit was really uplifting," recalls Lohr. "He was gracious and complimentary of the work being done and made all of us feel that we were working together on the same team."

As at the World Trade Center site and Pentagon, plans are underway to build a permanent memorial at the Somerset County crash site. "It will be similar to the Gettysburg Battlefield memorial and will have as much significance because of all the events of September 11th," says Lohr.