Copyright 2005 Newsday, Inc.
By LUIS PEREZ
Newsday (New York)
The city firefighters’ union yesterday called for an independent investigation into an accident that seriously injured a firefighter when he fell from an older fire truck.
Uniformed Firefighter’s Association President Stephen Cassidy said the fire department is “incapable” of an impartial investigation into the fall of firefighter Joseph Moore Friday night.
Moore, 26, assigned to Ladder Company 13 on the Upper East Side, fell out of the rear or “backstep” portion of the truck while racing to a fire at a bagel shop. He struck his head on the pavement, and remains in critical but stable condition at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, officials said.
The fire department has said the ladder company was using a 1998 truck because the regular truck was being repaired. A spokesman for the fire department said there is an active investigation by the department’s special safety command as well as city cops.