FDNY and 'Buildings' Detail New 'Deutsche' Precautions

The Chief-Leader/Alana Marcu AUGMENTED TRAINING: Firefighters Dave Struble (center left) and Joe Abbondondelo Jan. 28 demonstrate a new forcible-entry simulator that future classes of Probationary Firefighters and current fire companies will train with. The new tool was financed by the Mogil Organization and the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.

Agency officials outlined their augmented oversight roles in the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building Jan. 28, a month after the city agreed to sweeping changes in regulations as part of a deal under which it avoided being indicted in connection with the August 2007 fire that killed two Firefighters.

During an open community meeting last week, Fire Department Manhattan Borough Commander Michael Weinlein explained that a Battalion Chief is now always at the site during the day and another commanding officer is there at night. The Department of Buildings has 10 Inspectors solely dedicated to the building, which had been badly damaged and contaminated on 9/11.

Found Failures to Inspect

A Manhattan District Attorney's Office investigation last month concluded that the FDNY and DOB failed to adequately inspect the demolition site. In the case of the FDNY, the department was mandated to inspect the site every 15 days but hadn't inspected it for more than a year prior to the fatal fire. The DA determined that the standpipe in the building had been illegally cut, making it impossible for firefighters to gain access to water on the floor where the fire was, and that exit paths were blocked, also a code violation.

Avi Schick, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said that there was no longer simultaneous abatement and demolition of the building. He expected that floors one, two and three would be fully abated by March, at which point the LMDC and its contractors could go forward with demolition.

"We're looking forward for that day to get here," he said.

Several residents and worker advocates complained that even with the DA-mandated extra oversight, agencies had not properly informed the community about emergencies in lower Manhattan or the continued work on the Deutsche Bank building. Community Board 1 Member Tom Goodkind said that the community was promised more notification of local emergencies in the wake of the fire, but that it received nothing from any agencies after suspicious white powder was found at the Wall Street Journal's headquarters and a passenger plane crash-landed in the Hudson River.

Excessive or Unnecessary?

Agency representatives said that they feared overloading the community with information and that in the case of the plane crash they figured that there was already enough news reporting to inform residents and workers.

Paul Stein, the health and safety committee chair for Division 199 of the Public Employees Federation, partially agreed with several officials during the public comment period that there was a risk of information overload regarding the site.

"We're nowhere near that point at this time, so may I suggest that you might err on the side of too much information, because for too long we've been erring on the side of too little information?" he asked.

Mr. Stein, who had protested a lack of safety plans for the site before the August 2007 fire, praised the new collaborative agency oversight of the Deutsche Bank building demolition, but reminded audience goers of why the new methods were in place.

"It's very important that we not forget that most of the agencies and the private entities here dropped the ball that led to the death of these two brave Firefighters," he said.