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Here is an excerpt from, The Charge of the Fire Brigade 

But no haz-mat suits for you
no guidance from FDNY too
How you do it is up to you
risk your lungs and your health
Meet my quota of 2 a month, Bloomberg and Scoppetta said
We'll decontaminate you after your dead
Inspect while we blunder

Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the firefighters knew
Someone had blunder'd?
Bloomberg and Scoppetta scoff:
"Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to inspect and die."
Into the skyscraper of Death
Inspect while we blunder.

The whole megillah can be found by clicking here. 

There are those who hold the opinion that the fifteen day rule is inflexible: It applies regardless whether a building is contaminated by 9/11 dust, radioactivity, anthrax or whatever.  The fifteen day rule can be seen by clicking here.  The fifteen day rule says that

Deputy Chiefs shall cause continued inspections of buildings in the course of construction and demolition at least every fifteen (15) days, but more often where conditions dictate. 3 RCNY 11-01(a)  click here.

There are other more reasonable people who hold the opinion that the fifteen day rule was built upon an assumption. The assumption of the fifteen day rule was that the building being inspected was "clean" and firefighters could walk in and out of the building without any special training or equipment other than their normal, ordinary gear.  Former Fire Commissioner Von Essen seems to agree with us. Click Here. We say that the fifteen day rule was built upon this assumption because it is silent about how to handle "dirty" buildings contaminated by 9/11 dust, radioactivity, anthrax or other toxins.  It is silent because it was enacted in 1991 and did not contemplate the happening of events such as 9/11 or dirty bombs or nuts who deliver anthrax.

A different time 

If the year was 2000 or any year before 9/11/2001 and the now über toxic Deutsche Bank Building was not über toxic and it was then under construction or deconstruction and the local firehouse did not comply with the fifteen day rule, there would be cause for criticism.  The building being inspected was "clean" and firefighters could walk in and out of the building without any special training or equipment other than their normal, ordinary gear. 

A different place 

If the place was other than über toxic Deutsche Bank Building. Say a place in Queens or Staten Island. And it was there under construction or deconstruction and the local firehouse did not comply with the fifteen day rule, there would be cause for criticism. The building being inspected was "clean" and firefighters could walk in and out of the building without any special training or equipment other than their normal, ordinary gear.

This place and this time

 However, the reality was that the building being inspected was not "clean" but "dirty" and firefighters could not walk in and out of the building without any special training or equipment other than their normal, ordinary gear. Special training and equipment were needed and FDNY supplied neither special training nor special equipment. In this reality, there is no cause for criticism of the local firehouse.  Deserving of criticism is the very top of FDNY who failed to supply the special training and special equipment as was it FDNY's duty under every single Labor Law of the State of New York.

FreePetey's past blogs about the fifteen day rule are found as follows: