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Here is a proposed question for a test of applicants to FDNY (Click Here)

If a building is contaminated by hazardous materials and the FDNY has a hazardous materials unit, who should inspect it?

    A) the FDNY's hazardous materials unit that is trained, drilled and  equipped to work within a hazardous environment

    B) the local firehouse that is not trained, drilled or equipped to work within a hazardous environment or

    C) the Bureau of Fire Prevention?

Note: the answer seems obvious but the current FDNY Commissioner did not answer this question correctly so it must be more difficult than it appears.

Recall that the big boss at FDNY, Salvatore Cassano, was involved in the Decontamination - Deconstruction of 130 Liberty Street from the get-go

Recall also that we recently learned that FDNY's Bureau of Fire Prevention had the responsibility of inspecting World Trade Center Buildings not the Ten House (See below and click here)

Now we learn that within days after the fatal fire on August 18, 2007, the FDNY's Bureau of Fire Prevention was wondering aloud why they had not been made aware of any of the plans with regard to 130 Liberty Street.  Moreover, the Bureaus of Fire Prevention questions LMDC's assertion that FDNY has been involved.

But don't blame the FDNY's Bureau of Fire Prevention.  The FDNY's Bureau of Fire Prevention wasn't aware of the plans and of its inspectorial responsibility over 130 Liberty Street - one of the World Trade Center Buildings - because the very top of the FDNY did not tell them - did not clue them in. 

Had the very top of FDNY "clued in" the fine people at the FDNY's Bureau of Fire Prevention, they would have done their job and inspected 130 Liberty Street.  Had the very top of FDNY "clued in" the Ten House and given them the means (click here) to inspect within a contaminated building, the Ten House would have done its job too. Had the very top of FDNY "clued in" its Haz-Mat unit,  they too would have done the job as well. 

[Food for thought: You have a hazardous materials building and you have a hazardous materials unit within FDNY. Does it take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.

Image Scoppetta and Cassano thinking aloud about this:

"Hey, Boss, we have this hazardous materials building, who should inspect it?"

"Duh, I don't know."

"Duh, I don't know either."

"Hey, boss, how about our Hazardous Materials unit?"

"Come on, Chief. We can't assign our Hazardous Materials Unit to inspect hazardous materials buildings because that just makes too much sense. Keep this in mind, Chief, in the FDNY, Occam's Razor (click here) simply does not apply. It's more Alice in Wonderland where up is down and down is up. The good guys are on the 'sidelines' and the bad guys, well, we're still in the game."

"Duh, It makes sense, Boss."

"No it doesn't, Chief." 

 "Duh, right again, Boss."

Take your own poll. Ask anyone. Tell them that a building is contaminated by hazardous materials and that FDNY has a hazardous materials unit. Then ask them, who should inspect it

A) the FDNY's hazardous materials unit that is trained, drilled and equipped to work within a hazardous environment.

B) the local firehouse that was not trained, drilled or equipped to work within a hazardous environment or

C) the Bureau of Fire Prevention? 

It is sad to say but Scoppetta and Cassano needed a hint to get the right answer to this question and, even with the hint, they still  got the answer wrong. Note also, that this is a first round question on Regis Philbin's 'Who wants to be a millionaire', i.e. only a real idiot gets it wrong]

Firefighters, in general, do their jobs.  Firefighters do not shirk responsibility. Tell them clearly what their job is and give them the means to do it and the job gets done. 

The only "firefighters" who failed to do their jobs was the very top of the FDNY hierarchy - certainly not the Division Chief, certainly not the Battalion Chief and certainly not the Captain who was recently assigned to the Ten House and who inherited a policy of non-inpection.

130 Liberty Street became contaminated on 9/11/2001.  Scoppetta and Cassano had more than enough time to figure out how to safely inspect it.  What is their excuse for not coming up with a plan to safely inspect this contaminated building and other contaminated buildings within the City of New York? Why is there still no FDNY plan as we speak.

Who was clueless?  It wasn't the Bureau of Fire Prevention that was clueless.  It wasn't the Ten House that was clueless. It wasn't the Haz-Mat unit.  It was the very top of FDNY who were clueless. 

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Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus 

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We are waiting for Bloomberg and Scoppetta to call a news conference to announce that they have come up with a brilliant plan.  The FDNY will assign its hazardous material's unit to do the inspections of hazardous materials buildings.  When they do, they will expect you to applaud their brilliance.