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Aug 29, 2007 7:33 pm US/Eastern
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Exclusive: Did Money Halt Deutsche Inspections?
Sources Tell CBS 2 Surveillance Was Recommended Years Ago, But Would Have Been Costly
by Marcia Kramer
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Was money a factor in the failure of the FDNY to regularly inspect the condemned Deutsche Bank building, where two firefighters were killed nearly two weeks ago?
CBS 2 HD continues to uncover new and disturbing information exclusively as the investigation unfolds into the handling of the building's deconstruction leading up to the tragic fire.
Uniformed Fire Officers Association Jack McDonnell chose his words carefully when talking about how finances played a part in the safe-keeping of the toxic building. Several sources, however, charge money played a role in the decision by department brass to curtail inspections of the building.
"Frugal would be a good term for the Department's reaction," McDonnell tells CBS 2. "This department was perfectly aware of the complexities that this building presented."
CBS 2 first reported Monday about a March 22, 2005 smoking gun memo by an FDNY battalion chief that recommended a "weekly surveillance of this building" by the local fire company Engine 10. Sources say that would have been costly.
"Engine 10 firstly would have to be replaced," McDonnell says. He says another company would have to pick up Engine 10's firefighting responsibilities because "this process that they're going to go through will take hours if not most of the day's tour."
In addition to another engine, the FDNY would have to:
• Bring in another battalion chief to supervise the inspection.
• Bring in a special decontamination squad.
• And assign a specially equipped haz-tech ambulance.
This comes as these firefighters had to answer investigators' questions Wednesday about what happened during the fire, and new revelations about how some fled the toxic building when they ran out of air.
"They were forced to literally rip the plywood that remained on some of the windows and to jump from the building itself to the scaffolding that surrounds the structure," McDonnell says.
The firefighters had to rely on their ropes to make it over a huge gap to reach the scaffolding.
"Under these circumstances, when you're running out of air, and smoke and heat are all around you, it's not a simple thing to jump a gap," McDonnell says.
Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Bloomberg refused to answer questions about the fire and its aftermath.
The FDNY says money was "absolutely not an issue" in the decision to not inspect the Deutsche Bank building and the decision to ignore a battalion chief's memo urging weekly surveillance.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)