WASHINGTON: Firefighters in major US cities are being trained to take on a new role as lookouts for terrorism, raising concerns of eroding their standing as trusted American icons and infringing on people’s privacy.

Unlike police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel need no warrants to enter hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings each year, which puts them in position to spot behaviour that could indicate terror activity or planning.

There are fears, however, that they could lose the faith of a skeptical public by becoming the eyes of the government, looking for suspicious items like building blueprints or bomb-making manuals or materials.

Since the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks, Americans have surrendered some privacy rights in an effort to prevent future strikes. The government monitors telephone calls and e-mails; people who fly have their belongings searched before boarding and are limited in what they can carry; and some people have trouble traveling because their names are similar to those on terrorist watch lists.

The American Civil Liberties Union says using firefighters to gather intelligence is another step in that direction.

“Americans universally abhorred that idea,” Mike German, a former FBI agent said.

The Homeland Security Department is testing a program with the New York City fire department to share intelligence information so firefighters are better prepared when they respond to emergency calls. Homeland Security also trains the New York City fire service how to identify material or behaviour that may indicate terrorist activities. If it is successful, the government intends to expand the program to other major metropolitan areas.

As part of the program, which started last December, Homeland Security gave secret clearances to nine New York fire chiefs, according to reports.

Even before the federal program began, New York firefighters and inspectors had been training to recognis materials and behaviour the government identifies as “signs of planning and support for terrorism”.

When going to private residences, for example, they are told to be alert for a person who is hostile or expressing hate or discontent with the United States; unusual chemicals or other materials that seem out of place.

The trial program with Homeland Security opens a clear information-sharing channel that did not exist before between the fire service and Homeland Security’s intelligence division.

“It’s the evolution of the fire service,” said Bob Khan, the fire chief in Phoenix, which has created an information-sharing arrangement between the fire service and law enforcement through terrorism liaison officers.

Because firefighters are on the front lines, the fire service needs to know about intelligence that could somehow affect what they do, said Gregory Cade, who as head of the US Fire Administration is the nation’s top fire chief.

The Detroit, Michigan, area, which has one of the largest concentrations of Arab-Americans in the country, does not conduct this type of intelligence training, nor does it plan to.

“That’s a touchy area,” said Detroit’s deputy fire commissioner, Seth Doyle. Detroit firefighters receive training about hazardous materials, but not the details New York and DC firefighters are now looking for.—AP