At some point, almost every fire chief will have to "dig deep" to find the courage, leadership and resources needed to face down an unimaginably devastating event in his or her community. As some 16,000 fire and emergency officials gathered in New Orleans for the International Association of Fire Chiefs' Fire-Rescue International last week, scores of Florida chiefs were called home to prepare to respond to Charley, a Category 4 hurricane bearing down on their state.

Meanwhile, those who remained listened with reverence to those who had come back from their own personal war zones. At the first general session, Fighter Pilot Scott O'Grady spoke candidly about how he survived six days behind enemy lines in Bosnia, eloquently delivering what boils down to a survival guide for firefighters in life-threatening situations -- fall back on your training, never give up hope or your will to survive, and believe in your team. It is these three elements -- not gadgets and equipment -- that will pull you through.

We also heard from and honored emergency services officials who answered the call to serve in war-torn Iraq. At the opening of the IAFC's Apparatus Maintenance Section's 16th annual workshop, Ret. Chief William von Zehle of Wilton (Conn.) Fire Department, one of the section's board of directors, was recognized for 13 months of service in Iraq. Incoming IAFC President Bob Dipoli presented von Zehle with an American flag that flew over the nation's Capitol. Von Zehle, an Army reservist for 30 years, was based in East Baghdad and was injured while rescuing a person trapped after a bomb exploded and demolished the U.N. coalition offices.

As a civilian fire chief, von Zehle was assigned to assist in the armed recovery of fire trucks that had been stolen earlier when fire stations were looted. Fire trucks were stripped of all equipment and their water tanks were filled with gasoline so they could be used to sell gasoline to Iraqi citizens. Von Zehle said he was surprised the dispensing of gasoline in this manner didn't cause more explosions.

On Saturday, Dr. Ali Saeed Sadoon, the director of the Iraqi Civil Defense Directorate, became the first Iraqi member of the IAFC. During a press conference at FRI, Sadoon explained how the firefighters in Iraq are working hard to rebuild fire and emergency services with support from U.S. forces and the Coalition Professional Authority.

Speaking through a translator, Sadoon explained how during the former regime, 8,000 Iraqi firefighters were not paid very well, nor was the nation's civil defense very well equipped. Looting during the war robbed them of what little equipment they had.

With the help of U.S. soldiers and reservists like von Ziehle, Iraqi firefighters have been able to recover more than 80% of their stolen equipment and are in the process of restoring these trucks with borrowed parts, said Sadoon.

I can only imagine how Sadoon felt as he toured Fire-Rescue International's exhibit hall, a Disneyland of emergency services equipment with more than 600 vendors displaying every sort of new vehicle, equipment, gadget and resource available to fire and rescue organizations. He said only that he was "very impressed." I wondered, was he filled with incredible hope for the future of the Iraqi Civil Defense Directorate? Or was he overwhelmed at the long recovery road ahead for his people?

We'll feature more of the Sadoon interview and other news and developments from Fire-Rescue International in the October issue of Fire Chief. See headlines in this issue of Command Post for more initial news from Fire-Rescue International.

Janet Wilmoth, Editor