Aug 22, 2007 6:17 pm US/Eastern
FDNY Admits No Pre-Fire Plan For Deutsche Blaze
by Sean Hennessey
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Details of what the FDNY did not know before hundreds of firefighters rushed into the vacant, burning Deutsche Bank building at Ground Zero that left two dead on Saturday were released late Wednesday afternoon.
Five days after Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia died from smoke inhalation while trapped in an unfamiliar burning building, the FDNY admits it did not have a pre-fire plan for the building which was in the process of being demolished. A plan may have alerted firefighters to the labyrinth-like structure as the contractors dismantled the building floor-by-floor.
It turns out the standpipe -- the critical way for firefighters to get water in a high-rise -- was inspected the day before the tragic blaze, but that inspection occurred on the 25th floor. The fire happened well below that, where firefighters found the standpipe was not working.
That forced the firefighters to carry hoses up the floors, and because they were working harder walking up the stairs, it expended more air from their air packs. Before long, Beddia and Graffagnino died after running out of air while trapped in a thick, black smoke.
The track records of both contractors responsible for the dismantling of the building are also coming to light. The Department of Buildings says there have been 60 inspections of the deconstructed floors since March 2007, and in that time, six separate stop-work orders have been issued along with 19 violations for assorted safety violations. Neither Bovis Lend Lease nor employees of the John Galt Corporation are talking.
Late Wednesday there was even more finger-pointing. A letter from Bovis Lend Lease was hand delivered to the John Galt Corporation essentially complaining that its subcontractor is making too many mistakes. The letter goes on to say in part that the "failure to properly maintain all required safety precautions are only some areas of concern."
The letter comes a day after CBS 2 reported criminal charges could come forward following two investigations, one from Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau, and another from State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
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