PROVIDENCE — Councilman Miguel Luna has called for the immediate firing of Leo Messier as the city’s Emergency Management Agency director in light of what he says was his “poor handling” of last week’s snow emergency.

In a letter delivered to the mayor’s office on Tuesday, Luna pointed to the stranding of schoolchildren on buses, a breakdown of communications and the failure of the city agency to properly prepare for the storm as his reasons why Messier should be dismissed.

“One must wonder how Mr. Messier can effectively prepare our city for a terrorist attack or other life-threatening emergency if he cannot handle eight to ten inches of snow,” Luna said.

Neither Messier nor Mayor David N. Cicilline could be reached for comment but Karen Southern, the mayor’s press secretary, said Cicilline will respond to questions about Luna’s request when he holds a news conference at 1 p.m. today to announce his “action plan” for making sure that what happened last week does not occur again.

The City Council has already announced plans for a special meeting at 6 tonight to review all the problems that arose during and after the storm and to explore why things went wrong.

Luna said that Messier’s public comments as the situation deteriorated — including his comment that “children have cell phones to call their parents and they will get home eventually” — displayed indifference and disrespect to both parents and students.

“Emergency management officials are charged with handling emergencies, ensuring public safety and minimizing chaos,” Luna said. “When they fail, and show utter indifference, they need to be held accountable.”

rdujardi@projo.com