Life seemed good in December 2000, despite recently hanging chads that left an election in doubt. The new millennium was off to a promising start. Ten months later, however, the U.S. was kicked in the gut, as the whole world watched the Twin Towers crumble.

The past 10 years have seen some of the most devastating natural and manmade disasters in U.S. history, including 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

As I thumbed through the past 10 years of FIRE CHIEF issues, several significant events jumped out at me.

Political smarts. Days before Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush named R. David Paulison the new U.S. fire administrator, filling that position with a fire chief for the first time. Paulison later was the first fire chief appointed FEMA director by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff in 2005.

Technological advances in emergency management. In December 2003, Wilson (N.C.) Chief Don Oliver wrote an article about the city's use of geographic information systems technology in pre-incident planning, which brought public-service and -safety agencies together in time to effectively respond to Hurricane Isabel. Seven years later, GIS has agencies working together to identify, plan and mitigate potential hazards in jurisdictions across the U.S.

Bioterrorism increases. After the Washington, D.C., anthrax incident in 2001, author Kathryn M. Hansen, raised awareness of the threat that bacteria, microorganisms and viruses poses to fire departments in the article "Germ Warfare." Most bioterrorism acts will be covert, "with the first indications caught in hospital emergency rooms as the ill start to appear," she wrote in 2003. Subsequently, emergency management protocols expanded to include hazmat and mass-decontamination procedures and drills.

Firefighter health. In April 2003, then — FIRE CHIEF columnist Portia Rawles, removed the stigma of firefighter suicide in "Not Without Warning." That same year, Chief Ronny Coleman raised awareness of the connection between prostate cancer and firefighters. Since then, fire departments have initiated physical- and mental-health programs, and the National Volunteer Fire Council created an aggressive heart-healthy campaign to educate firefighters about physical health.

Web use. A survey of fire chiefs at Fire-Rescue International 2003 found that 44% described themselves as "heavy users" (several times a day) of the Internet, and 43% thought they were "regular users" (at least once a day). Seven years later, try to find a fire chief who is not glued to a computer, smart phone or other Web-enabled device.

Incident reporting. In March 2001, Washington correspondent Colin Campbell wrote "Furor Over 5," which highlighted user frustration over NFIRS Version 5 and the 20-year effort of the U.S. Fire Administration to produce timely, accurate information about the reality of the nation's fire problem. It is rumored that such accuracy finally might be achieved in 2011.

FIRE Grants. The first FIRE Act application period opened in 2001 with six grant program areas — training, firefighting vehicles, firefighting equipment, PPE, fire-prevention programs, and wellness/fitness — totalling $90 million in awards, plus another $10 million for FEMA's administration of the program. (See "[White] Hats Off.") To date, more than $4 billion dollars has been invested in the U.S. fire and emergency services, but the future is not promising.

Citizens' about-face. Probably one of the most startling things I've seen is the shift from firefighters being America's beloved heroes after 9/11 to them having to fight for survival in the current economic climate. Taxpayers and local governments are slashing fire department budgets and public-safety pensions are under the microscope.

I've never forgotten Shreveport Chief Brian Crawford's comment in 2002 that 9/11 was the watershed moment when the American fire service went from "B.C. to A.D." We continue to live in interesting times.