Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
According to the Mayor "Inspections are not up for debate."
Three New York City Fire Department officers were stripped of their commands for failing to inspect and plan for a possible fire in the former Deutsche Bank building where an Aug. 18 blaze killed two firefighters, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Deputy Chief Richard Fuerch, Battalion Chief John McDonald and Captain Peter Bosco of Engine Company 10, the firehouse closest to the building near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan, were transferred to headquarters, Bloomberg said at a City Hall press conference.
Investigators are trying to determine why Bosco's firehouse failed to inspect the building's water standpipe, which had been broken, every 15 days as law required. The probe will also explore why Fuerch failed to prepare a pre-fire plan for the building under demolition, Scoppetta said.
``These apparent failures in oversight, judgment and responsibility may require disciplinary action,'' Bloomberg said. The mayor said officials are cooperating with separate criminal probes by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
The officers' reassignments will be temporary until the investigations into the fire are complete, the mayor said.
The fire started because demolition workers tossed lit cigarette butts on to the building's 17th floor, said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, who joined Bloomberg at the news conference. The city Fire Marshall ruled out electrical equipment or connections, he said.
``Cigarette smoking was rampant in the building and it was prohibited,'' said department spokesman Francis Gribbon.
Fire Investigation
The mayor said the investigation would seek to answer why the standpipe became inoperable, which left the burning building with no internal water supply, and why it hadn't been inspected, violating city regulations and the contract between the owner of the building, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., and the demolition contractor, Bovis Lend Lease Co.
``The broken standpipe made it very difficult for firefighters to put water on the fire until they improvised and hoisted hose lines from the street, costing them valuable time,'' Bloomberg said.
Compounding the problem was the presence of plywood and polyurethane placed throughout the gutted building to contain asbestos and other toxic contaminants during the demolition process.
``High-rise fires almost always burn up, not down as this one did,'' the mayor said. ``We suspect that the effects of the negative air pressure system put in place as part of the containment operation pulled the fire down several floors quickly, putting the base of operations on the 14th floor at great risk.''
Failed to Act
Bloomberg said Bosco, captain of Engine Company 10, was reassigned because as commander of the firehouse closest to 130 Liberty Street, he should have ensured inspections of the standpipe were made every 15 days. McDonald, commander of Battalion 1, supervised Bosco.
Scoppetta said Fuerch, a division commander with more than 30 years experience in the department, had failed to act after Battalion Chief William Siegel in 2005 sent him several memoranda requesting that he draft a plan should a fire break out.
`Two Crimes'
John McDonnell, president of the Uniform Fire Officers Association, which represents the three officers, said the building was too hazardous to inspect every 15 days, requiring any firefighters to don protective suits and masks and go through time-consuming decontamination procedures.
``The real problem is that two crimes were committed in that building: someone who removed the standpipe so that water was unavailable, and the people who were smoking in that building,'' McDonald said in an interview. ``Both were criminal and neither fell under the fire department's purview.''
Pre-fire plans should be drafted whenever a demolition or construction site presents unique problems, Bloomberg said. This building, located near the World Trade Center and next door to Engine Company 10, ``where decontamination and demolition require equipment, that makes it a more dangerous situation,'' Bloomberg said.
Black Shroud
The building at 130 Liberty Street, shrouded in black mesh and filled with polyurethane and plywood to contain asbestos and other contaminants, has been vacant since Sept. 11, 2001, when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed near it.
The fire killed Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island, and Joseph Graffagnino, 33, of Brooklyn. The two worked out of the same firehouse, Engine 24-Ladder 5, that lost 11 firefighters on Sept. 11.
The mayor said the Fire Department's deputy chiefs would inspect all buildings that are under construction or being demolished to make sure of adherence to regulations ``regarding fire protection and public safety,'' the statement said.
``Structurally, we need to also put in place mechanisms to ensure that necessary fire inspections of buildings in our city take place as required,'' Bloomberg said. ``Inspections are not up for debate.''
