By Matthew Chayes
Newsday (New York)
Two lawmakers want to hire retired firefighters to help inspect buildings for the type of hazardous conditions that may have led to the deaths of two firefighters in the former Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero.
The last comprehensive inspection of the safety system at the abandoned skyscraper took place more than a year ago, union officials said last week, leaving firefighters at the Aug. 18 scene at a disadvantage.
State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) and Council Member Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) say retirees could flag safety hazards like poor sprinklers, blocked doorways and malfunctioning standpipes.
“Because they’re retired, they may not be able to physically put out fires,” Adams said at a news conference near Ground Zero, “but they still have the expertise.”
Fire marshals and the Manhattan district attorney’s office are focusing their inquiries on the former banks’ standpipe system, which fire officials say failed to supply water to firefighters there.
Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino, 33, and Robert Beddia, 53, died in the high-rise as they tried to douse the fire.
Hours after officials vowed to conduct aggressive investigations of that fire, two more firefighters were seriously injured last week at the same site at 130 Liberty St. when scaffolding collapsed.
Under yesterday’s proposal, the retirees would supplement the more than 4,000 hours officials say active duty firefighters now spend each week doing inspections. The lawmakers said they would seek to change civil service law to allow retirees to be paid as inspectors while continuing to collect pension checks.
The plan would require both city and state legislation.
According to FDNY spokesman Jim Long, each fire company - about 341 citywide - spends about 12 hours a week conducting inspections.
A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, John Gallagher, said he would not comment on legislation he hasn’t seen.
Meanwhile, Monserrate and Adams called on the city’s fire commissioner, Nicholas Scoppetta, to be more forthcoming with the public about the former Deutsche Bank blaze.
“Now that the funerals have been carried out, it’s time now to sit down and find out answers,” Adams said. “What did we do wrong? How can we prevent it from happening again? What do we need to do long-term, short-term and middle-term?”
Monserrate said he would push Scoppetta to testify before the City Council.