FDNY eyes policy change after fatal Deutsche Bank fire
In the wake
of last year's deadly Deutsche Bank fire, the city
is considering whether to change its policy and
require all firefighters to leave a dangerous
situation when their supervisor's air supply runs
out.
"It is being considered," said Francis X. Gribbon, a
spokesman for the Fire Department of New York.
Current FDNY policy allows supervisors with a
depleted air supply to leave a situation
"immediately dangerous to life and health" and for
subordinates to remain if another supervisor takes
over, Gribbon said.
The review of air supply procedures is one of 32
recommendations about safety, emergency and
inspection practices that the FDNY put forward
yesterday in a special report about the Aug. 18,
2007, blaze at 130 Liberty St. Firefighters Robert
Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino were found unconscious
on the 14th floor and died of smoke inhalation.
The report indicated that an
unnamed Engine Company 24 officer who was
supervising Graffagnino and Beddia had to leave the
fire zone because his air supply ran out, but told
other officers his unit was still working.
The officer apparently didn't get another supervisor
to take his place and didn't pull both men out with
him, said an FDNY official who didn't want to be
named.
Copies of the 176-page report will be going to all
350 FDNY units today in the department's effort to
reinforce training practices and procedures.
"This is not a report to fix blame," FDNY
Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said at a news
conference yesterday.
Scoppetta acknowledged that an internal FDNY review
was being suspended at the request of the Manhattan
district attorney's office, which has a grand jury
investigation under way.
"Firefighters did an incredible job under difficult
circumstances," Scoppetta said.
According to the report, a series of blunders,
including a severed fire standpipe, damaged
sprinklers and blocked exits, created confusion and
"contributed significantly to the death of
Graffagnino and Beddia."
"There were no equipment failures at this fire,"
Scoppetta told reporters.
Scoppetta explained that some firefighters' poor
radio procedures only added to the confusion. He
said that units are being reinstructed on emergency
radio procedures.
Scoppetta said there were numerous "Mayday"
emergency calls, some of which couldn't be
attributed to particular firefighters. He said a
review was unable to find any mayday calls from
Graffagnino or Beddia.
He also noted that there were no inspections done by
the FDNY, the Department of Buildings or the
demolition contractor, which would have revealed
that a water standpipe had been severed.
Firefighters struggled for more than an hour to find
a water supply, officials said.
"Why didn't the buildings department do their
inspections for two years?" asked Joseph Graffagnino,
father of the dead firefighter. "Had they done their
job and gone in there every 15 days, they would have
noticed all these violations."
"Nothing that we say is going to bring back the
lives of those two firefighters," said Mayor Michael
Bloomberg. "What we've got to do is make sure their
procedures are improved to the extent possible so
that it doesn't happen again."