By Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday
 AP Photo/Eric M. Hazard Firefighters outside the Deutsche Bank fire, which killed two FDNY members in August 2007. |
NEW YORK — 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.”
DEUTSCHE BANK FIRE
Trouble over the radio
Here are excerpts from FDNY transmissions during the fire at the former Deutsche Bank building on Liberty Street, just south of Ground Zero, on Aug. 18, 2007.
Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino, 33, of Ladder Company 5 and Robert Beddia, 53, of Engine Company 24, who worked in the same firehouse, were taken unresponsive from the building’s 14th floor.
More than 275 firefighters and 70 units responded to the seven-alarm fire, reported at 3:36 p.m. and declared under control at 10:40 p.m.
Firefighters in trouble
16:35:29: “Ladder 8 to Command Post URGENT.”
16:35:32: “All right, go ahead, Command Post.”
16:35:33: “Ladder 8 to Command Post. We’re gonna need a FAST-PAK. We need some air up here. We’re all running low on air. We’ve all taken a beating on 15. We’re starting, we’re gonna need FAST-PAKS, extra bottles and fresh troops.”
16:35:45: “The bottles have already been sent up. They went up the elevator up to 15.” ...
16:48:17: “MAYDAY-MAYDAY-MAYDAY. Engine 24 to anybody.”
16:48:22: “Unit with the MAYDAY.”
16:48:24: “I’m lost. I’m trying to exit on the charged hose line, running out of air.”
16:48:30: “24 backup to 24, look for the hose line. We’re in the stairs.”
16:48:38: “24, you with that member that gave the MAYDAY?”
16:48:41: “Engine 24.”
16:48:46: “Rescue Can with an URGENT.”
16:48:50: “Where are ya?”
16:48:51: “I’m in the stairwell. I need help.”
Discovery of Graffagnino
17:01:59: “I got a member down. We’re trying to get him out of here on the 14th floor. His PASS [Personal Alert Safety System] alarm is going off, non-responsive.” ...
17:02:22: “Division ... 1 to, aah, Command. I’m on the 14th floor. I have no help getting the guy out. We’re checking the possible activation of another PASS alarm.” ...
17:02:33: "... come on in, give us a hand. We got a big guy to pull out. Hurry up.”
17:02:36: “We need a hand in here.”
17:02:37: “Hey Mike, how are we gonna get the guy down? You gonna take him down the elevator or the stairs? Command to Division 11.”
Indication that Beddia is in trouble
17:07:05: “Rescue 2 to the Rescue Battalion with the URGENT.”
17:07:14: “Rescue Battalion go ahead.”
17:07:15: “I think I’m hearing another PASS device in there. I’m gonna bring a guy in with me and see what we can find out. We might have another guy in there. See if we can get them to shut off all the other PASS devices. I can hone in on it.”
Discovery of Beddia
17:10:12: “MAYDAY-MAYDAY-MAYDAY. Engine ... MAYDAY-MAYDAY.”
17:10:16: “Unit with the MAYDAY.”
17:10:18: “Engine 3 with a MAYDAY. I have an unconscious fireman.” ...
17:10:23: “Rescue Company ... you’ll have to give me a hand.” ...
17:10:29: “Can you get him to, can you get him to the elevator? Who’s operating with you?”
17:10:34: “Rescue to Rescue Irons.”
17:10:40: “Irons.”
17:10:41: “Can you get a couple of guys give us a hand? We got a guy in here. ... we’re off the rope, just come in slow.”
Report’s key findings
- FDNY radio channels were overwhelmed with routine and emergency transmissions, with 14 mayday and 19 urgent messages recorded. None of the mayday messages were found to have come from Robert Beddia or Joseph Graffagnino.
- Broken standpipe and sprinkler systems, as well as blocked or removed stairways, “contributed significantly” to the deaths of firefighters Graffagnino and Beddia.
- Firefighters worked for more than an hour to find a water supply for their hoses.
- The fire at the Deutsche Bank building was caused by careless smoking on the 17th floor.
Recommendations
- Ensure that all firefighters are trained annually in emergency and safety procedures as well as radio operation.
- Enforce policies on use of breathing apparatuses.
- Evaluate procedures for supervisors’ evacuation when air supply is low.
- Equip radios with emergency button on microphones.
- Coordinate notification to fire department and other city agencies when a permit is issued for construction, demolition or asbestos abatement.