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In an article in the 9/23/2007 NY Post, It was reported that FDNY Engine 10 was ordered back into the Deutsche Bank Building at 130 Liberty Street to conduct inspections.   The NY Post reported that

The whole process can take up to six hours, a firefighter said, although touring the building itself can usually be done in three.

 The NY Post went on to say that

The recent inspections have been time-consuming because of the complex hazmat gear each firefighter must don before being allowed into the structure, sources said.

...

"The firefighters put on two hazmat suits, and then they close the openings around the gloves and the boots with duct tape," said one veteran FDNY officer. "They wear masks and self-contained breathing apparatus as well."

And when their inspections are complete, the firefighters and their equipment have to be decontaminated, which means stripping away the top layer of hazmat gear, and spraying down their masks and other items.
 

 
    Furthermore, Deep Throat has supplied some of the details of the inspection to Freepetey.  FDNY Engine 10 was there on Thursday 20 September 2007.  The inspection started at approximately 2pm and ended at approximately 8pm, a period of 6 hours.  The inspections went beyond the normal tour which ends at 6pm.  Engine 10 was out of service while they were inspecting the building.  FDNY supplied hazmat suits. Moreover, after the 6 hours of inspection, FDNY supplied a decontamination unit, Engine  7, to decontaminate the inspectors.

    Now FDNY is supplying Engine 10 with a special procedure to inspect the most contaminated work site in the world, with double Haz-mat suits and with post inspection decontamination. This is "an admission by conduct" by FDNY that to inspect toxic buildings, special procedures are necessary.

    With the new special inspection proceedures, FDNY is also finally recognizing its duty to firefighters under NY State Labor Law §27-a which puts the duty to figure all of this out upon FDNY not upon FDNY employees in the field.  Figuring out how to conduct safe inspections is the job of the top of FDNY not the bottom.  The new FDNY special inspection procedure for toxic buildings that the 9/20/2007 inspection of 130 Liberty St. is but an example came from the very top of FDNY. It did not originate in Engine 10.

     These special toxic building inspection procedures were not written into the internal FDNY rule calling for inspection at least every 15 days for buildings under demolition. If special inspection procedures are necessary why were they not spelled out in the internal FDNY "at least every 15 days" inspection rule? They were not spelled out because FDNY made an assumption. The assumption was that the buildings being inspected were not contaminated by toxins. Now - six years after 9/11 -  that FDNY has belatedly realized that there are 100-200 toxic buildings in NYC and that there is a need for special inspection procedures to address these  100-200 toxic buildings in NYC.

 Why it took FDNY until now to realize that there are toxic buildings in NYC that need special inspection procedures is unfathomable especially given the losses FDNY faced on 9/11/2001 and the subsequent deaths and illness that 9/11 toxins have inflicted on FDNY.

 One of FreePetey's favorite movies is Casablanca. It is a classic. In it is a scene in which Claude Raines closes down Rick's place blowing his whistle and shouting, "I'm shocked. shocked, that gambling is going on in here."  Here is the excerpt from the script

Strasser is very angry. He strides across the floor toward Renault who is standing at the bar.

Strasser:  You see what I mean. If Lazlo's presence in a cafe can inspire this unfortunate demonstration, what more will his presence in Casablanca bring on? I advise that this place be shut up at once.

Renault: (innocently) But everybody's having such a good time.

Strasser:  Yes, much too good a time. The place is to be closed.

Renault:  But I have no excuse to close it.

Strasser:  (snapping) Find one. 

Several French officers surround Lazlo, offering him a drink.

Renault thinks for a moment then blows a loud blast on his whistle.  The room grows quiet, all eyes turn to Renault.

Renault: (loudly) Everybody is to leave here immediately! This cafe is closed until further notice!

An angry murmur starts among the crowd. People get up and begin to leave.

Rick comes quickly up to Renault.

Rick:  How can you close me up. On what grounds? 

Renault:  I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling going on in here!

This display of nerve leaves Rick at a loss.  The croupier comes out of the gambling room and up to Renault. He hands him a roll of bills.

Croupier:  Your winnings, sir.

Renault:  Oh. Thank you very much.

 Aside from the simple exercise of figuring out who from the drama we are involved in is Strasser and Renault (Hint: Bloomberg and Scoppetta are not Rick or Lazlo), FDNY's pronouncement that "I'm shocked, shocked that no inspections were taking place" is beyond belief.  If FDNY failed to supply fire trucks to Engine 10 and then claimed it was shocked that Engine 10 was not fighting fires, reasonable people would say, 'Wait a minute, how can you be shocked when you did not supply them with the means to fight fires".   But this is precisely what is going on with regard to the inspection.  FDNY is claiming "I'm shocked, shocked that no inspections were taking place" knowing full well that FDNY failed to supply Engine 10 with the means to conduct inspections in a toxic building.

FDNY either knew inspections of 130 Liberty Street were not being done or idiots are running the Department. It is impossible for me to think that idiots are running FDNY. This can't be the case, right? FDNY knew that the the Deutsche Bank building was toxic and FDNY knew that FDNY did not supply Engine 10 with the means to inspect a toxic building.  With knowledge of these two facts, it is impossible for FDNY not to know that inspections were not being done. 2 + 2  = 4  right, even  within FDNY.  130 Liberty Street did not become toxic a few weeks before August 18, 2007.  130 Liberty Street did not become toxic a few months before August 18, 2007.  130 Liberty Street did not become toxic a few years before August 18, 2007.  130 Liberty Street became toxic on 9/11/2001 - nearly 6 years before the tragic fire of August 18, 2007. 

Given that FDNY has now recognized the need for special inspection procedures as exemplified by the inspection conducted by Engine 10 on Thursday 20 September 2007. And given that FDNY must by now realize that these new inspection procedures were not in place prior to August 18, 2007, how can FDNY continue to sideline Captain Peter Bosco and the two other fire chiefs? Every day it becomes clearer and clearer that the attempt to assign blame to Captain Peter Bosco and the two other fire chiefs is nothing but a thinly disguised dirty rotten attempt to scapegoat the innocent and its smell is nauseating. Don't you smell it too?

There are  100-200 toxic buildings in NYC.  The inspection on 9/20/2007 by Engine 10 took six hours, involved overtime, involved multiple hazmat suits, and brought to the scene a decontamination unit.  During the inspection Engine 10 was out of service.  Multiply all of this by the 100-200 toxic buildings in NYC and you will get an idea of the amount of resources that are needed to perform safe inspections. Because of the huge amount of resources, Deep Throat has told FreePetey, that the FDNY internal inspection rule will be changed.  Instead of the local administrative unit doing the inspections, Fire Chiefs will be doing the inspections. We shall see how this plays out.  Fifteen days from 9/20/2007, is October 5, 2007. Let's see whether the Big Chiefs at FDNY headquarters send Engine 10 back into 130 Liberty Street again. Let us see how FDNY will handle the other 100-200 toxic buildings in NYC  Stay tuned.

P.S.

The Headline for the Ny Post  Article talks about a Blunder Unit.  The headline writer ought to be ashamed of himself. If he truly understood what is going on, he would realize that the blunder was made - not by unit 10 - but by the very top of FDNY.

P.P.S.

Do we dare hope that, in the end, the Renault inside of Scoppetta shows up, he turns out to be a good guy, and it is the beginning of a beautiful relationship with his firefighters? If so, Strasser better watch out.

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

(Thanks again to Deep Throat and others for pointing FreePetey in the right direction.)