September 3, 2007—New York City officials ordered fire inspectors to examine hundreds of buildings under construction or demolition throughout the city after an investigation found numerous planning and safety failures at the “ground zero” building where two firefighters died.
Three fire officials said to be responsible for lapses at the former Deutsche Bank tower were also reassigned, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned recently that more administrative and disciplinary action could follow.
Officials said the cause of the fire appeared to be from cigarette smoking, likely by workers who were demolishing the beleaguered skyscraper floor by floor. The building, which once stood 41 stories, had deteriorated into a toxic horror in the six years since it was damaged beyond repair during the World Trade Center attack.
When workers began taking it down earlier this year, the fire department failed to conduct the required regular inspections there, Bloomberg said. Deputy chiefs are now ordered to examine some 420 structures under construction or demolition citywide.
If officials had kept up with inspections at the Deutsche Bank building, they might have seen numerous conditions that contributed to the Aug. 18 fire, including a broken water supply system, a maze of sealed-off stairwells, combustible debris throughout the building and signs that workers regularly ignored the no smoking rule on site.
For more information, see the news article on Newsday.com.
