By FireRescue1 Staff
| Chief Goldfeder on ‘Getting Comfortable’ A friend of mine has been an FDNY Officer for decades and has amongst the finest reputations at all levels within that job. From his integrity to his well documented performance and heroic actions at numerous fires, it doesn’t get much more honest, solid, stand up, honorable or incorruptible than this highly respected senior veteran Fire Officer. He knows the rules inside and out and is as model a fire officer as they come. When this went down a few weeks ago, he called me and said “it could have been me” — what he meant was that most everyone at all levels did their inspections, but got “comfortable” from time to time. And sure, some more than others, but this had become nothing unusual and rarely did anyone-from top to bottom question it-it was “the way” it was done — but then came the tragic Deutsche Bank fire. While he would be the first to tell you that they all should have done everything by the book, it was not the “always” way of operating and rarely questioned by anyone-at any level — so therefore, it became what was then the “standard”. That happens at every FD to every one of us. We have all gotten “comfortable”. |
NEW YORK — FDNY is fining four fire officers and reassigning them to fire headquarters for failing to properly conduct building inspections, officials said Tuesday.
The two captains and two lieutenants conducted various activities — including shopping at stores — when they were supposed to be making inspections, according to officials.
They also had their units leave the firehouses late and return early during designated inspection periods, failing to fulfill the mandated three-hour periods of inspection duty.
All four officers are being fined several days’ pay and have been taken from their field units and assigned to work on fire prevention matters.
“Inspectional activity is a crucial part of the job for firefighters and fire officers, and failure to diligently perform this work is a dereliction of duty that will not be tolerated,” Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said.
Two other fire officers were given letters detailing misconduct in their personnel folders after failing to conduct building inspections, but were not fined or reassigned.
FDNY has regularly audited fire inspections in the aftermath of the 2007 Deutsche Bank tragedy, in which a building that had not received required inspections caught fire, killing two firefighters.