Commish mum on Deutsche fire testimony
Friday, August 1st 2008, 12:17 AM
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta testified Thursday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating last summer's fatal fire in the Deutsche Bank building at the World Trade Center site.
Accompanied by criminal lawyer Gary Naftalis, Scoppetta declined to discuss what he told the panel, which is trying to determine whether anyone should face criminal negligence charges for the deaths of two firefighters.
Joseph Graffagnino, 33, and Robert Beddia, 53, died last year when they couldn't get water from a standpipe in the building to fight a blaze.
Part of the pipe had been removed, and the Fire Department, which was supposed to inspect the system every 15 days, had not looked at it for more than a year before the Aug. 18 fire.
One retired firefighter told reporters last year that a battalion chief ordered him and three others to stop inspecting the site a year earlier to protect the firemen from toxins in the building.
The Deutsche Bank building was riddled with mold and toxic dust after being severely damaged seven years ago in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Sources familiar with the investigation expect the grand jury to resolve the issue in late September.
bross@nydailynews.com
related...
Fire Commissioner Faces Challenge in Fatal Blaze NY Times 9/1/2007