Wiltermuth Draft Story-FDNY Fire Inspection Schedule

In a racketing up of the tensions, Stephen J. Cassady, President of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said the Fire Department was guilty of improper practice and retaliation, following an incident whereby UFA Health and Safety Officer, William Romaka, was excluded from certain Fire Department meetings. Cassady said Romaka was excluded due to union activity.

The firefighter’s union and Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta have been engaged in a bitter dispute following the August 18, 2007, fire at the former Deutsche Bank building, which killed firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino.
An investigation following the incident concluded that the two firefighters were left in the building for over an hour without water, due to dismantled fire connections and a broken standpipe in the basement.

In February, Beddia’s sister, Barbara Beddia Crocco, filed suit in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan against the LMDC and several private companies in charge to the Bank’s demolition. According to the New York Times, “the conditions created by the defendants were too much for Beddia to withstand, and he was killed by toxic smoke, unable to escape because of the stairwell barricades erected by the defendants.”

Five days following the fatal blaze, the UFA disclosed the lack of proper Fire Department inspections at the forlorn site, which had not been inspected since March 2006. Cassidy said Scoppetta was made aware of the dangerous Deutsche Bank conditions as far back as three years prior, when Chief William Siegel recommended a specific fire and inspection plan for the site.

Three months prior to the blaze, while the Bank was undergoing demolition, a 22-foot length of steel pipe fell from the building onto the roof of local Fire Engine 10/Ladder 10. While no one was injured at the time, the accident failed to produce requested safety measures at the site.

Mayor Bloomberg weighed in on Sept. 8 and three Chief firefighters were reassigned and the 15-day inspection schedule came under close scrutiny. In November, Cassady said the Commissioner knew the Deutsche Bank was a toxic mess and that the inspection cycle was unfeasible, but that month, Scoppetta’s added a third day to the firefighter’s building by-monthly inspections.

In January, Battalion Chief John J. McDonnell told the New York Times that it would be impossible to check every construction or demolition project under the 15-day schedule, even though the city had increased the time from six to nine hours each week, in which firefighters are given to perform inspections.

Cassady said, “In an obvious attempt to gloss over their 
failures, the Department leadership has decided to add a 
third day of building inspections to an already 
overburdened firefighter's workload.” “This fiasco is called 
’Building Inspection Safety Program (BISP),’” he said.

The backdrop to this ongoing battle is a fight for high-rise safety and accountability in the shadows of the
September 11, 2001, when the lives of 341 firefighters were taken.

While New York City is experiencing its largest construction boom in decades, fire chiefs said the inspection rule has been one of the hardest to enforce for decades. One persistent issue is that fire commanders are not officially notified when the city issues permits for construction or demolition. Instead, local engine companies drive around to determine which buildings need to be inspected.

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 inspection program. The Committee said they wanted to determine the staffing levels of these units, the training and qualifications of the inspectors, the equipment available to the inspectors, and the universe, scope and frequency of inspections being conducted.

The Committee inquired how the level of inspections had varied in recent years, the scope and frequency of the inspections being conducted, how and why the decision was made to increase the level of inspections and the impact that decision may have had on response times and safety. Scoppetta testified that fire response times had actually decreased since the new inspection plan was instituted, but provided no supporting data or statistics.

In December, Cassidy said the number of fire engines on building inspections increased by 50 percent. While the acknowledging the Fire Department’s responsibility to manage the City’s building inspection program, Cassidy said, “Every firefighter knows that his response times are negatively impacted.”

Glen Corbett, a professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the New York City fire department’s 15-day building inspection schedule has since become a hot-button issue. Days after the blaze, he said, “due to the scrutiny of this building, the lack of a pre-fire plan is unbelievable.”

Cassady 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.”

UFA Ltr re Failure of FDNY Leadership: http://www.ufalocal94.org/pdf/db11_20.pdf

City Council Oversight Hearing re: FDNY Building Inspection Program: Dec. 12, 2007
http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/attachments/81351.htm?CFID=1569427&CFTOKEN=55706348

NYT: Feb, 14, 2008 Beddia lawsuit: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/nyregion/14deutsche.html?_r=1&scp=9&sq=deutsche+bank+fire&st=nyt&oref=slogin