NEW YORK - Firefighters and policemen, praised as heroes after the World Trade Center attack, clashed today near ground zero when firemen overturned barricades and punched police officers to protest cuts in the number of workers assigned to comb the rubble for remains.
Five policemen were assaulted and 12 firefighters arrested when firefighters broke through police barricades near the site of their finest hour in protests over recovery personnel cuts the mayor said were needed for safety reasons but firefighters said were a matter of money.
Shouting "Bring them home", in a reference to their fallen comrades, about 1,000 city firefighters headed to the site of the collapsed towers where they held a brief prayer and then walked through Lower Manhattan to City Hall as onlookers cheered.
"There is no question that emotions are very, very high for all of us," New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told a press conference.
"But the reality is the kind of conduct displayed today is unacceptable. You cannot hit police officers. You can't disobey the law."
Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen offered an apology on behalf of the department to the police.
"They have been our brothers in this tragedy since day one," Von Essen said.
The number of firefighters and police involved in recovering remains from the attack site, where officials estimate almost 4,600 people were killed, has reached into the hundreds. Under a new plan announced this week, that number would be reduced to about 100 uniformed personnel, working 24 hours a day.
"This is a war and we want to get our fallen brothers off the battlefield," said one member of Engine 42 company in the Bronx, who asked not to be named.
Several firefighters said the disaster site was safer now than on Sept. 11 and the reason for the personnel cuts was to save the city money as they shifted work at the ground zero to "scoop, dump, and sift for body parts".
"It's incredible that they would even think of doing this. The firefighters need closure and they are not being allowed to finish their job," said Houston fireman Raul Reyes, who went to New York to help in rescue efforts.
About 350 firefighters, who were dispatched to rescue the tens of thousands of people in the World Trade Center, died when the buildings collapsed after suicide plane attacks on Sept. 11. About 250 firefighters remain missing.
Mr Giuliani said safety experts warned him there was a disaster waiting to happen by having numerous firefighters and policemen searching for remains at the site while heavy equipment worked at removing more than 1 million tons of debris.
He said there were more and more recovery workers who were "standing around with nothing to do".
The risk to these people's lives increased as the recovery area grew smaller and the work of heavy equipment continued at its present pace, he said.
But retired nurse Anita Offner who was visiting the area said, "The firemen should get as many people as they can."
"We always have money for everything else. Why shouldn't we have money for the people who are our heroes?" she asked.
- REUTERS
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New York firefighters and police come to blows
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