Command Post

Imagine a toxic-waste accident at the Limerick nuclear plant. Or a multi- car crash on the Route 309 expressway. Or a multiple-alarm fire in a chemical company. Such emergencies soon should be handled with greater efficiency - thanks to a planned communications command post, linking local police and fire departments to state police and the National Guard. The van also would allow local police, fire and ambulance companies to communicate on the same radio frequency for the first time.

The tanker truck loaded with sulfuric acid skidded off Interstate 95 and overturned in a ditch perilously close to a residential area in Bensalem Township. It was 6 a.m., and residents of the area were just waking up. The first police arriving on the scene assessed the situation, radioed for more help and set in motion a protocol to notify the proper individuals and agencies. One of the first people called was Bob Ludwig, the township's fire marshal and deputy emergency management coordinator, who rushed to the scene, simultaneously ordering CP222 into service.

Thousands of dollars' worth of new equipment and plain old face-to-face conversation are at the heart of the city's plan to make sure that the events of May 13, 1985, never happen again. Managing Director James S. White, in an interview after yesterday's release of the MOVE grand jury report, outlined the city's efforts to be more prepared to respond to MOVE in particular and crises in general. The newly revamped Emergency Operation Center, in the Fire Administration Building at Third and Spring Garden Streets, is equipped with state-of-the- art audio and video equipment that would allow officials to better communicate with one another and get information quickly during crises.

Fortunately for Deptford, the field communications vehicle - reserved for emergencies during the last year and a half - has not been needed. The vehicle, a converted 1981 ambulance, did get some road time for drills and township events, such as Deptford Day, when it was used as a command post. But while this emergency vehicle was supposed to be ready for dire circumstances, technically it wasn't safe to drive from its parking space at the municipal building on Cooper Street.

The war in Iraq hit the blogosphere in a wrenching and personal way Monday. At the blog Election Projection, where Scott Elliott tracks polls in 50 states, this startling news appeared: "My parents were killed today. " It happened in Mosul, in northern Iraq, where Larry T. Elliott, 60, and Jean Dover Elliott, 58, of Cary, N.C., were among four Baptist missionaries slain in a drive-by shooting. News of Elliott's loss spread quickly, as other bloggers linked their sites to his, www.electionprojection.

The police field supervisor publicly criticized by Chief Daryl F. Gates for mishandling the initial response to the Los Angeles riots fired back this week, saying that Gates was ultimately responsible for a dismal lack of preparedness and "sold me down the river" without knowing what really happened. In his first public response to the chief's criticism, Lt. Mike Moulin strongly disputed Gates' contention that the department was well-prepared for violence in the wake of the Rodney King verdicts.

Lower Merion Police Capt. Joseph J. Daly years ago heard about incident command posts, first as a participant at meetings of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and later at the National Fire Academy. Daly, who has been a township police officer for more than 20 years, even had a chance to employ the crisis-command concept during a few emergencies along the Schuylkill. But it wasn't until two months ago, when two aircraft collided and rained fiery debris on the playground at Merion Elementary School, that Daly and the township Police and Fire Departments had a chance to see how crucial and effective such operations could be. "It went smoothly," Daly said this week of the township's emergency response to the April 4 crash of a Sun Co. helicopter and a private plane carrying U.S. Sen. John Heinz (R., Pa.)

So where do you put a six-ton orphan? The homeless four-year-old in question is a former mobile home that now acts as an emergency command post for 12 North Penn area municipalities, and it needs a garage it can call its own. The truck - known formally as the C-100 mobile-communications unit - becomes the nerve center for rescue teams during large-scale emergencies. When a Lower Gwynedd boy drowned in May, the C-100 was used to coordinate the rescue effort of a dozen emergency-service groups.

It was called "Devil House. " That graffiti, scrawled on the wall just above two drug-dozing men sharing a fetid sofa, identified the crumbling rowhouse at 3049 Potter St. as hell. It hardly needed the label. There was the smell - a putrid mixture of human feces, urine, musty furniture, rotting garbage and sweaty people. And there were the occupants: five shirtless, shameless junkies who could barely keep their eyes open long enough to answer questions from police. This was the first Kensington drug house cops busted into yesterday morning to kick out the second phase of Operation Sunrise, possibly the city's biggest drug crackdown.

Nearly 30 members of the Camden County law enforcement community were honored yesterday for meritorious service during the last year. Hosted by TV sportscaster Don Tollefson, nearly 180 people attended the 19th Annual Camden County Prosecutor's Office Awards Ceremony and luncheon at the Coastline Restaurant in Cherry Hill. Among those honored by Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi were the three firefighters - James E. Sylvester, John D. West and Thomas G. Stewart 3d - who died attempting to rescue three young girls from a fire in Gloucester City on July 4, 2002.

TRIPOLI, Libya - NATO widened its campaign to weaken Moammar Gadhafi's regime, launching air strikes on desert command centers and sea patrols to intercept ships, the military alliance said Saturday amid signs of growing public anger over fuel shortages in government-held territory. In the coastal town of Zawiya, crowds apparently outraged by dwindling fuel supplies tried to stab reporters in a minibus on a state-supervised trip to the Tunisian border. The journalists - a Chinese news correspondent and two Britons, a BBC technician and a Reuters video producer - were not harmed in the attack, the first of its kind targeting foreign reporters covering the Libyan conflict.

WASHINGTON - Frustrated at their inability to break the military deadlock in Libya and to stop the shelling of civilian areas, NATO commanders are expanding their air war by launching strikes against military command facilities and other regime buildings used by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and his top aides. NATO said the escalation, supported by armed U.S. Predator drones, is meant to sever Gadhafi's communication and supply links with army units battling the rebellion based in eastern Libya.

Updated at 9 a.m . Tuesday A dead body in a car - and a note warning people not to come near - kept neighbors guessing and a street barricaded for hours Monday as emergency vehicles and personnel in white hazmat suits converged on a spot in Pennsbury Township, Chester County. Police said Tuesday they found potentially toxic chemicals in the car after a more than six-hour operation during which the body of a 30-year-old Kennett Square man was removd from the vehicle.

Roy Halladay would have been hard-pressed to outperform Cliff Lee in his first three starts, had the Toronto ace become a Phillie instead of Lee before last month's trade deadline. In his third National League start, Lee improved to 3-0 with a 1.13 earned run average. He lasted eight innings to beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-1, yesterday at Wrigley Field, also contributing his second double since joining the Phils. At the end of the second inning, Lee did not appear headed for the eighth.

Bernard P. McKenna, 77, a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars who was awarded the Silver Star and two Purple Hearts, died July 20 of liver cancer at Holy Redeemer Hospital in Meadowbrook. He lived in Mayfair. Mr. McKenna had a rough start in life. He and his twin brother weighed 2 pounds at birth. Their mother traveled from Philadelphia to her native Ireland with her seven children, including the newborn twins. She died when Mr. McKenna was 6. He returned to Philadelphia and was reared in an orphanage.

A man who saved America - and probably the world - is living out his days on a tiny pension in a dank apartment in a forlorn suburb of Moscow. He has a bad stomach, varicose veins, and a mangy, spotted dog named Jack the Ripper. Stanislav Petrov's life is small now. He walks Jack, makes tea from herbs he picks in the park, and harangues his 34-year-old son about getting off the computer and finding a girlfriend. There was a time when Petrov, now a 65-year-old widower, was almost larger than life, a privileged member of the Soviet Union's military elite, a lieutenant colonel on the fast track to a generalship.

The war in Iraq hit the blogosphere in a wrenching and personal way Monday. At the blog Election Projection, where Scott Elliott tracks polls in 50 states, this startling news appeared: "My parents were killed today. " It happened in Mosul, in northern Iraq, where Larry T. Elliott, 60, and Jean Dover Elliott, 58, of Cary, N.C., were among four Baptist missionaries slain in a drive-by shooting. News of Elliott's loss spread quickly, as other bloggers linked their sites to his, www.electionprojection.

'Holy Cow!" "I'm still reeling!" "Somebody do a bed check on Charles Manson!" Worldwide chatter about Saddam Hussein erupted in the blogosphere within minutes of his capture and was still at fever pitch yesterday. Warbloggers rejoiced. Anti-war bloggers searched for clouds behind the silver lining. Iraqi bloggers praised Allah. And a soldier who's a translator and interrogator and goes by the nom de blog Baghdaddy (whosyourbaghdaddy.blog-city.com) compared reaction there to a Star Wars movie.

They are of times gone by, and times happening still. The playfulness. The joy. The mysteries of nature. And the love of family and friends. Inquirer readers' memories of Fairmount Park evoke all of these things - and more. Come share the good times with them. Next Monday: Ideas for improving the park. Creeks and trails When I think of special Fairmount Park memories I have to reach beyond the lovely Sunday breakfasts at Valley Green Inn, bike rides along West River Drive, and even Boy Scout camporees on Belmont Plateau.

Nearly 30 members of the Camden County law enforcement community were honored yesterday for meritorious service during the last year. Hosted by TV sportscaster Don Tollefson, nearly 180 people attended the 19th Annual Camden County Prosecutor's Office Awards Ceremony and luncheon at the Coastline Restaurant in Cherry Hill. Among those honored by Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi were the three firefighters - James E. Sylvester, John D. West and Thomas G. Stewart 3d - who died attempting to rescue three young girls from a fire in Gloucester City on July 4, 2002.