NYC firefighters doomed by lack of water By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer

NYC firefighters doomed by lack of water By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 55 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Firefighters who battled a killer blaze in a condemned ground zero skyscraper lacked a basic tool: the building's water supply system was busted.

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Fire marshals discovered that the network, known as the standpipe, was not operational Saturday when two firefighters died inside the burning former Deutsche Bank tower. Investigators found a chunk of the standpipe unattached and laying on the floor in the basement, the city said Monday.

The troubled building had been plagued with citations before the fire, and received another violation for failure to maintain the standpipe system after investigators made the discovery.

Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia got lost on the 14th floor as their air tanks ran out. They inhaled smoke and died of cardiac arrest; their funerals are Thursday and Friday. More than 50 firefighters suffered minor injuries.

The former Deutsche Bank office building has been empty since it was damaged on the morning of the World Trade Center attack six years ago, and was being dismantled floor by floor. It once stood 41 stories, but demolition crews had reduced it to 26 by Saturday.

The city said Monday that fire investigators had determined the blaze began in an area on the 17th floor where workers stopped for decontamination.

Fire marshals spoke to eyewitnesses who said workers would smoke and put out cigarettes in the area, which was near the construction elevator used to access the floor.

The city said there also was some electrical equipment there, including hot water heaters for decontamination showers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement that investigators still did not know how the fire started.

"At this point we do not know the cause of the fire, but full and comprehensive investigations are under way," he said. "We are using every possible resource to find out how this fire started and what went wrong."

The mayor said separate investigations were launched to determine how the fire started and what led to the firefighters' deaths.

Officials also were trying to sort out the confusion about who was responsible for the standpipe and other issues.

Private contractors are working on the state-owned building, while multiple local, state and federal agencies have a hand in the decontamination and deconstruction. The effort was described by the city as "unusually complex."

The skyscraper's owner, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., bought the tower three years ago and took over the removal project. As the demolition proceeded, the city Department of Buildings issued a separate permit for each floor before it could be taken down.

With each floor permit, the Department of Buildings visually inspected the valves and caps for the standpipe in the area, but the inspections did not include testing the water flow. The last permit was as recent as July 31, for the dismantling of the 26th floor.

In working buildings, the fire department is responsible for checking the water flow in standpipes every five years, according to fire department spokesman Jim Long. Building owners typically maintain them in between.

The city could not say on Monday when the water network had last been tested, but the fire department said the building had been issued at least one other violation related to standpipe problems.

Apart from the water problems, the building owner had racked up a number of citations before the fire from city building inspectors, for complaints including debris falling from the building and excessive amounts of combustible debris and plywood stacked around the site.

The deaths also raised questions about why emergency responders would enter an empty building that was long ago condemned.

The president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Jack McDonnell, said there was no other choice than to send firefighters into the building.

"It never could have been contained from the outside," he said. "The building could have collapsed, endangering lives and property."