Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A study from New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service was released last week Friday that provided 170 pages of documents detailing the City of Buffalo's response to the blizzard that crippled the region this past December.
Commissioned at the direction of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown shortly after the city's recovery from the deadly storm, the independent study made it quite clear there were inefficiencies in the city's response that needed to be addressed. The report said the December blizzard had "serious adverse effects on the city's infrastructure, businesses, and residents."
However, the Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association, led by President Vincent Ventresca, says the lessons learned from the Buffalo Blizzard report is "nothing more than a fluff piece" put together in an effort to cover up the failures of people in leadership roles within the City of Buffalo. Ventresca specifically pointed out the failures of Fire Commissioner William Renaldo and the Buffalo Fire Department's preparation and response to the storm.
"Ask yourself, is no one responsible for what occurred during the Buffalo Blizzard? This storm took a tremendous toll on the Western New York community. There was a tragic loss of life. It showed that the Buffalo Fire Department was not prepared for a snowstorm. This is Buffalo, New York. It should be," said Ventresca during a press conference on Thursday.
Among the notable criticisms from the Local 282 leader on Thursday was with Renaldo being in Florida at the time the storm struck and the subsequent response to the blizzard.
"Ms. [Sarah] Kaufman did speak to Commissioner Renaldo in order to gain his command perspective. However, how can he speak to storm response when he was in Florida, and his deputies were at home? This report was given to the City of Buffalo in draft form weeks before its official release in an obvious effort to edit the material and soften the blow. This report is akin to Gov. Hochul coming to Buffalo soon after the storm to give accolades and awards. This union recognizes this for what it was, a ceremony meant to divert our attention away from the epic failure to prepare for, and respond to a snowstorm in Western New York."
Ventresca says Renaldo left Buffalo on Tuesday, Dec. 20 and arrived in Florida prior to the storm's arrival.
Ventresca then pointed to the report saying how all departments transitioned with ease to virtual coordination which allowed for a simplified transition to online coordination to benefit response and rescue operations. He says the union doesn't even know what the report was talking about.
"We use carbon paper in the fire department. Our payroll is on paper and is brought around the department by Pony Express. The emphasis on this point can only be meant to blunt the criticism that the Commissioner was on a vacation in Florida during storm," Ventresca explained. "Virtual communication is no replacement for the leadership on the ground, and this point is a weak attempt to justify the Commissioner's absence."
During Thursday's press conference, Ventresca pointed to a number of items in the NYU report that brought up more questions than answers from the Buffalo Fire Department's standpoint. He says the report points to how the City of Buffalo is "no stranger to snowstorms," but asks why the city continues to show a lack of preparedness for them.
"The report talks about how the city is taking a proactive approach, and sought expertise on how to better prepare for future blizzards of this magnitude. However, the common sense definition of proactive is, 'Creating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen, rather than responding to it after it has happened.' I believe they meant to use the term 'reactive', acting in response to a situation rather than creating or controlling it," Ventresca said.
Another criticism of Ventresca's with the report was the research team interviewing more than 30 stakeholders representing city and state government, community organizations, emergency responders, utility providers and business owners during the course of the study. Ventresca claims, though, the team did not speak with members of the Buffalo Fire Department he suggested until they were compelled to do so in the editing phase. To add to that, Ventresca says Commissioner Renaldo blocked the research team from speaking with his division chief in charge of the department during the storm.
"Common sense indicates his insight would have been invaluable, yet the Commissioner denied him permission to speak with Ms. Kaufman," Ventresca said. "To be clear, the editing phase of this report was the only time when our members were even considered or contacted."
Ventresca went on to discuss a number of other points in the report where Commissioner Renaldo failed the Buffalo Fire Department. This included talking points of preventions, preparedness, and pre-planning in the event of winter weather in the city.
"The Commissioner is the emergency management coordinator. He has never pre-planned or coordinated a storm response in any way, he did no interdepartmental coordination, he did no tabletop exercises, and he did no training in this area. The report recommends the city hire an emergency management coordinator. They did in 2018, and he did not fulfill his duties," Ventresca said.
Finally, Ventresca addressed the part of the report that recommends to develop an emergency operation center (EOC) within the City of Buffalo, helmed by a new emergency manager to coordinate interdepartmental efforts and other elements to handle inclement winter weather. He says the Buffalo Fire Department has established and utilized an EOC within the city under previous commissioners at fire headquarters. He claims that has not been established during Commissioner Renaldo's tenure.
"The current Commissioner did not establish or utilize an EOC for either storm that occurred in the winter of 2022. Prior to and after the November storm, Local 282 brought concerns to the Commissioner about this, and we were ignored," Ventresca said. "The Commissioner is the emergency management coordinator. He has never pre-planned or coordinated a storm response in any way, he did no interdepartmental coordination, he did no tabletop exercises, and he did no training in this area."
Ventresca admits it is sad that the relationship between the leadership of the fire department and the union has become a combative once. However, he feels enough is enough when the concerns and needs of the department are not being properly addressed, and the response from leadership has been obfuscatory.
"The Commissioner and the attorneys who he's been working with over these five years have done nothing but work to be detrimental to the operations of this department. We don't even want to be involved in operations, but their inability to do anything correctly has led us to a point where we continue to bring the fight to them that we need things," Ventresca said. "What is the union asking for? The proper equipment to do our jobs. I don't know how else to say it."
More from Ventresca during Thursday's press conference is available in the player below:
