Whenever WCBS/Ch. 2's chopper is aloft over a fire, the footage from cameras is fed not only to the station, but to the FDNY's operations center. This unusual sharing agreement was born out of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as a way to put more information into the hands of emergency officials. "There was a sense of coming together in a crisis that drove this forward with the news directors of the stations," says Joseph Pfeifer, the FDNY's chief of counterterrorism and emergency preparedness. "This is something good." The national 9/11 Commission noted in 2004 that the FDNY could have mounted a better response to the attacks if it had contact with helicopters at the site. Since then, the FDNY has sought grants for a helicopter, has set up a program to share service with the NYPD, and has gotten TV news directors to provide chopper footage. "They've been very, very cooperative," Pfeifer says of the stations. The FDNY began by working with WPIX/Ch. 11 and then with Ch. 2. WPIX has ended its chopper lease and now shares Ch. 2's aircraft. Ch. 2 maintains a direct line to the FDNY. There are no fees involved, nor does the FDNY have any editorial say. "There are concerns with the news media," Pfeifer says. "They have the right to turn it off and turn it on. But if they're flying and taking pictures as part of the news coverage, we'd like that video." WCBS/Ch. 2 general manager Peter Dunn says the station can halt the feed, "if there's a controversial shot. But for the most part, it's great for us to be able offer the city the opportunity to look at things. Why not help our community?" When Ch. 2's Joe Biermann or Jim Smith is doing a TV report, the footage they're also sending to the FDNY helps in different ways. "In some fires in the past, we've called the newsroom to ask them to fly around to the other side of a building," Pfeifer says. "Those pictures are incredible to maintain situational awareness. We can view it here, and relay that information out to the scene," he says. For instance, Pfeifer says the chopper pilots can show responders where there may be a hazard that hasn't been seen by firefighters, or where victims may be waiting. Cooperation is not a one-way street. The FDNY gets the footage, but the newsrooms also get help from firefighters, who explain to them what they're seeing. Pfeifer calls the relationship a partnership. "We'll speak to them on the phone and tell them what they're seeing," Pfeifer says. "We'll show them the fire is moving building to building. We help build their story better than they could do it themselves. It's really a collaboration." The relationship is a rare partnership between public and private entities, and unusual in that it involves a news organization and an organization it covers. Some news purists might shriek at such a relationship. However, there may be a day when viewers hear Biermann or Smith describing a fire, and behind the scenes, the video may be helping to save the life of a trapped firefighter or homeowner. The benefit of that is priceless.