Firefighters were betrayed in Deutsche Bank building deathtrap

NY Daily News

Tuesday, August 19th 2008, 4:00 AM

New York marked the one-year anniversary of the Deutsche Bank building with a memorial ceremony for Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino Jr. and Robert Beddia - along with fresh evidence that they were fatally betrayed.

Safety reports uncovered by the Daily News revealed that six small fires had broken out in the hulking structure in the two months before Graffagnino and Beddia lost their lives in a horrific inferno.

Ruined and contaminated by asbestos and other toxins on 9/11, the tower was being dismantled in 2007. Sparks from acetylene torches touched off the sporadic fires, none of which was reported to the FDNY.

June 25: "Russell from Bovis was on 29th floor when a small fire on ceiling was noticed."

June 26: "Small fire on ceiling of 26 was put out by roofers."

July 25: "A small fire from sparks from the roof started on S/E side column of 22nd floor."

July 26: "On the 22nd floor a small fire started around 8:45 a.m."

July 31: "Small fire on the 15th floor on the east side exterior scaffold."

Aug. 10: "At 2:47 p.m. S/W side column had a fire. No fire watchman or fire extinguisher on the floor."

One week later, the building went up in flames. To be clear, the cause is believed to have been a discarded cigarette - not sparks from a torch.

The point is that the demolition work was inherently dangerous, as safety inspectors recognized in calling time and again for a beefed-up fire-watch team.

The clear peril makes it all the more outrageous that the building had been converted into a deathtrap for the purposes of dismantlement.

It had been sheathed in plastic, and air was drawn in from outside to prevent contaminants from escaping. Stairwells had been sealed. A standpipe that was supposed to deliver water had been cut.

Graffagnino, Beddia and their colleagues knew none of that when they rushed in because the FDNY had not inspected the premises as it was supposed to have and the Buildings Department was missing in action.

The Fire Department is nearing completion of an inquiry into what went wrong. Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau is deep into a grand jury investigation that will undoubtedly produce criminal charges. Now more than ever, they seem warranted.