Puget Sound searchers back from New York rescue effort

Associated Press

SEATTLE — To the mournful skirl of bagpipes, members of the Puget Sound Urban Search and Rescue Task Force returned home this weekend from the devastated World Trade Center in New York.

The group searched in frustration for survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. There were many painful images, and they quickly lost hope of finding anyone alive in the rubble.

"It’s so much bigger than what you see on TV," said Puyallup firefighter Ryan Taylor during an emotional welcome-back ceremony. His wife greeted him Saturday morning with red, white and blue balloons when the team landed at the King County Airport terminal at Boeing Field.

"There’s 16 acres of twisted steel, and rubble a hundred feet high," said Larry Woodward, an emergency room doctor at Puyallup’s Good Samaritan Hospital.

The group — made up of King and Pierce county firefighters, police officers and other specialists — arrived in New York on Sept. 19 and worked through Tuesday looking for survivors.

Also returning to Washington this weekend after a week in New York was a team of six mental-health workers with Northwest Medical Teams International and the Salvation Army. The group counseled and fed firefighters and police officers involved in the recovery efforts.

"The job is not done, but our job was done," said Maj. Charles Gillies of the Salvation Army in Olympia.

Meanwhile, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, there was a change to the security approach in dealing with cars Sunday. Instead of stopping and inspecting every vehicle at security checkpoints, officers shifted their focus to strictly enforcing a no-parking, no-waiting rule.

Airport spokesman Bob Parker said the change in tactics is aimed at easing traffic jams into the airport. Cars left unattended at curbs will be towed away the moment drivers walk away. Roving officers also will keep a close eye on cars coming into the airport.

Airport officials hope the change will cause fewer hassles for travelers.

"At some point if you let security tie you in knots, then the terrorists have won," Parker said.

"It will take literally mere seconds to hook a tow truck to a car, and once we do that it’s $150 to unhook it."

While much of the economy languishes, Seattle-area gun shops are reporting booming business in the aftermath of the attacks.

"People are panicked," said Alan Goldman, owner of Central Gun Exchange in downtown Seattle, which has seen sales jump 30 percent since the attacks. "They watched what happened at the World Trade Center, and every pronouncement out of the government’s mouth since then has been ‘War.’ "

The Seattle Police Department reports a record number of new gun owners signing up for firearms-safety and training classes and applying for concealed-weapon licenses.

The department also saw an increased number of applications following the World Trade Organization riots in November 1999.

"We’ve never had 10 or 12 applicants in a day. That’s rare," said Teresa Nordberg, administrator of the Seattle Police Department’s program. "But that’s happened several times since mid-September."