1 Year Later: Birmingham fire chief reflects on mass shooting at Hush Lounge
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - It has been one year since the deadly mass shooting outside the Hush Lounge in Five Points South.
As the community remembers the lives lost, the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service is reflecting on the trauma responders faced that night.
For Fire Chief Cory Moon, listening to emergency calls is part of the job. But on that night, as reports of victims and deaths continued to rise, Moon decided he had to go to the scene. He says it remains one of the worst incidents he has witnessed in more than 24 years with the department.
“Initially, when I saw the number of patients get up to 20, that did give me a little bit of pause, like ‘this can’t be right’,” Moon said. “But when I got to the scene and saw all the casualties and all the people, that drove it home. It was real.”
Moon was leaving a date with his wife when the emergency calls started coming in. As the situation escalated, he felt compelled to step in.
“The numbers kept growing. I decided to be there to support our personnel and the citizens, just so they knew I was there to help behind the scenes,” he said.
That support extended beyond the response. Moon said the department took specific steps to care for the mental health of firefighters affected by the tragedy.
“We put in place things early on where we made it mandatory in certain instances that our personnel have to get a critical incident stress debriefing,” he said. “We have counselors come to the station. We take those crews out of service and they get the support they need.”
Moon emphasized that mental health resources for first responders are essential, especially after traumatic incidents like mass shootings.
“People look at firefighters like heroes, and they do heroic things, but we are still people,” Moon said. “I am always concerned about the long-term impact of the things we see on a daily basis. Seeing 20+ patients is not something that is normal. Whether you are a first responder or a civilian, that is not something people should see.”
To further support its members, the Birmingham Fire Department plans to launch a wellness app later this year. The app will be available not only to firefighters but also to their families.
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