By Joy Wiltermuth
The Deutsche Bank building stands as an abandoned, gloomy hulk that was badly damaged and filled with toxic debris during the collapse of 2 World Trade Center. After a 22-foot length of steel pipe fell from the building while it was being torn down last year, and landed onto the adjacent roof of the local firehouse, it sparked fire department protests and calls for additional safety measures.
Three months later, a fire broke out in the partly demolished building that led to the deaths of two firefighters. An investigation following the blaze concluded that firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino were left in the burning building for more than an hour without water, due to a dismantled fire connection and broken standpipe. Several fire exits were barricaded, when the subcontractor attempted to limit asbestos exposure in the floor-by-floor deconstruction.
The tragedy set off a bitter fight between the firefighter’s union and the Fire Commissioner over accountability in the lapsed fire inspections and the hazardous conditions at the site. “Smoke and mirrors seems to be the Department’s response to this department-created situation that has eroded over the years,” said William Romaka, the Uniformed Firefighters Association Health and Safety Officer.
Stephen J. Cassidy, President of the UFA, called for Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta to accept responsibility for department failures following the blaze and requested an independent investigation. Cassidy said the higher echelons knew of the dangers, which plagued the Deutsche Bank, when Chief William Siegel recommended a targeted fire inspection plan for the toxic site three years earlier.
Siegel’s plan addressed hazards posed to firefighters that included exposure to asbestos, dioxins and heavy metals released during abatement. Aware of such conditions at the former bank building, the union disclosed the lack of proper fire inspections that had ceased a year prior to the fatal fire.
Glen Corbett, a professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the New York City fire inspections program became a hot-button issue. In the days following the fire, he told the New York Post, “due to the scrutiny of this building, the lack of a pre-fire plan is unbelievable.”
Scoppetta and Mayor Bloomberg weighed in on the tragedy and three high-ranking firefighters were taken out of the field and reassigned. Bloomberg called for strict enforcement of the fire department’s building inspections schedule, which required bi-monthly, spontaneous visits by local fire companies to all buildings undergoing construction or demolition in their area.
Scoppetta announced a new Building Inspection Safety Program (BISP) in November and added a third day to the current 15-day building inspection cycle. Inspections are completed during the firefighter’s regular workday and, under the BISP, the hours each week reserved for completion of inspection duties were increased, from six to nine. Visits to local buildings begin in the morning and continue throughout the day until, or unless, the unit is called to respond to a fire emergency.
Cassidy called the BISP was “an obvious attempt to gloss over the failures of Department leadership, who knew the Deutsche Bank was a toxic mess.” He said the new inspection program would not resolve the problems of an unfeasible inspection cycle, which added to an already overburdened firefighter's workload.
Battalion Chief John J. McDonnell said, “The additional inspection period is a ‘band-aid’ approach to an ever-growing problem. McDonnell, President of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association and one of the reassigned officers, said it would be impossible to check every construction or demolition project under the current schedule and told the New York Times that city regulations did not take into account New York’s recent construction boom.
The department later agreed to cut back on fire inspections to buildings less than 75 feet high, to every 30 days. An attempt to modernize the city’s firefighting capabilities was put forth in March, the first comprehensive revision of the city's fire code proposed in nearly a century. It is slated to go into effect in July and will bring the Code in line with international standards.
While part of the proposed Fire Code Law focuses on fire safety technology, some have called it “a sprinkler system law.” Deputy Assistant Chief Ronald R. Spadafora worked on the Fire Code and said it addressed some of the major issues that faced the Fire Department following the World Trade Center collapse.
Spadafora called it particularly strong in areas of interdepartmental information sharing and said it improved and integrated computer systems. But, he said the offset to technological improvements was a compromise of practical aspects of fire prevention. “Some would say there are areas of the code that have not gone far enough,” he said.
The proposed Fire Code Law does not directly address the disputed fire inspections building program. Romaka said, “While the new Fire Code might, and could be beneficial, the real problem deals with an untrained inspection protocol that does little to correctly respond to the challenges we find ourselves in.” He said the lack of proper training for the vast majority of firefighters in the field has not been addressed.
The UFA called for a separately trained and staffed task force to remedy the growing need for professional fire inspectors, who can identify and report back to local units about dangerous or hazardous conditions. While new probationary firefighters are given increased building construction and inspection training, Romaka said, “In the past we had dedicated task forces that were allowed to be cut from the budget under the guise of doing more with less.” Spadafora said, “In a perfect world, there would be a separate task force, but that involves a budget and we have to work with the workforce we already have.”
Weighing in on the added third day of inspections, Romaka said, “Being judged on hours does not improve the quality of the inspection.” He said it detracted from the bonding between companies “that generally occurs at lunch time, at a time when we have so many new members that we strive to pass on traditions to.”
On December 12, the City Council’s Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee requested an oversight hearing with respect to the Fire Department’s building inspections program. The Committee wanted to determine the staffing levels, training, equipment and qualifications of the inspectors. They also looked at the increase in levels of inspections and the impact that had on response times and safety. Scoppetta testified that fire response times had actually decreased since the new inspection plan was instituted, but Cassidy said the Commissioner provided no supporting data or statistics for his conclusion.
Cassidy said the number of fire engines on building inspections increased by 50 percent since December. While acknowledging the Fire Department’s responsibility to manage the city’s building inspection program, he said, “Every firefighter knows that his response times are negatively impacted.” A fire company out conducting routine building inspections is required to regroup and deploy when a fire emergency calls, sometimes to distant locations.
In a recent ratcheting up of the tensions, Romaka was excluded from certain departmental meetings, which related to technology oversight, and the UFA said he was targeted due to union activity. Cassidy said, “Rest assured, the Department’s actions will not stop the UFA from shining the light of truth on the Department when their policies endanger our members.”
Sources:
Scopetta Nov. 7, 2007, BISP Announcement
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/pr/2007/110707_8507.shtml
UFA Nov. 20, 2007 Ltr to Members and Public
http://ufalocal94.org/pdf/db11_20.pdf
UFA Oct. 12, 2007 Charge of Cover-Up
http://ufalocal94.org/press/100907.php
Dec. 5, 2007 FDNY Proposed Fire Code
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/pr/2007/120507_9107.shtml
Glen Corbett: 212-237-8092
William Romaka: 212-683-4832
Ronald R. Spadafora: 917-418-8653
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