First posted on September 11, 2001
U.S. under terrorist attack
How is Logan County affected?

[September 11, 2021]   The terrorist attacks that have destroyed New York’s World Trade Center buildings and part of the Pentagon, shut down air traffic in the United States and Canada, closed trading on Wall Street, and brought military bases throughout the country on high alert are being monitored closely here in Logan County.

"There are no reports in central Illinois of any terrorist acts," Dan Fulscher, Emergency Services and Disaster Agency director, told the Lincoln Daily News at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Fulscher had just been in contact with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Operations Center in Springfield.

However, ESDA’s Crisis Management Center in the Safety Complex was open, and the staff, along with fire and police officials, was in "a heightened state of awareness," according to ESDA’s Assistant Director Terry Storer.

"All agencies are aware of what is going on right now, and we are keeping our eyes wide open," Fulscher said. He said the IEMA would be keeping the Logan County agency posted on any new developments.

Although the Illinois Statehouse was closed and legislators sent home as a precautionary measure, public buildings in Lincoln, City Hall and the Logan County Courthouse, remained open.

"It’s obvious that we are very vulnerable to terrorism," Fulscher said. "This event today may change the perception of the man on the street, but agencies like ESDA, fire and police departments, EMS, the health department, and others have been working very hard to prepare for such an emergency.

"Now when we talk about being prepared for terrorist attacks, people will understand better what we’ve been working toward," he added

He said the local ESDA has put in requests for state funding for specialized terrorism equipment and training for the next three years, and that he now intends to ask for funding for the next six years.

The Logan County ESDA has been working hard for the past year, especially the past summer, to prepare an emergency terrorism task force. "Most task forces in the state of Illinois have been working hard to prepare for such an event," he added.

"People here in Logan County want to send their deepest sympathies to victims, their families and the emergency workers involved in this terrible event," he said.

[Joan Crabb]

[LDN - Top Stories (lincolndailynews.com)]