The Freedom Tower

The New York City Fire Department has removed three high-ranking officials from their jobs in connection with a fatal fire near Ground Zero.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city fire commissioner said the officers may have been responsible for problems related to the deaths of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, at a City Hall news conference, announced the officials’ reassignments and disclosed a preliminary cause of the Aug. 18 fire in the building: careless smoking by workers on the 17th floor.

“Smoking was prohibited in the building,” Scoppetta said. “Nevertheless, smoking was engaged in throughout the building, and particularly on the 17th floor where the fire originated.”

Bloomberg, in talking about the lack of a firefighting plan specific to the building south of Ground Zero, which is in the process of being dismantled, took a stern tone.

“Despite the hazardous conditions, senior fire officers decided against creating a unique plan for the building,” he said. “This is even more disturbing when you take into account that a battalion chief had recommended doing so three separate times. [His] recommendations were not followed, and we have to learn why.” Bloomberg did not name the battalion chief who made the recommendations.

Yesterday’s action against Deputy Chief Richard Fuerch, the Division 1 commander; Battalion Chief John McDonald, the Battalion 1 commander; and Engine Company 10 Capt. Peter Bosco is pending results of a criminal investigation into the fire. They will work at FDNY headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn until further notice.

Thousands of World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers were still suffering serious mental health effects three years after the disaster, the New York State Health Department reported today.

New findings released from the World Trade Center Health Registry show that one in eight rescue and recovery workers (12.4%) likely had post-traumatic stress disorder when they were interviewed in 2003 and 2004.
The new data come from the World Trade Center Health Registry’s initial survey of nearly 30,000 rescue and recovery workers. The respondents ranged from police officers and firefighters to clergy and construction workers. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varied significantly by occupation, with rates ranging from 6.2% among police officers to 21.2% among unaffiliated volunteers (those who were not working with an organization such as the Red Cross). The prevalence of PTSD in the U.S. population is roughly 4% at any given time.

Like the unaffiliated volunteers, workers from non-emergency occupations such as construction, engineering and sanitation also suffered particularly high rates of PTSD. It is unlikely that these workers had gone through disaster preparedness training or had experience with previous emergencies, both of which can help buffer psychological trauma.

People who started work on or soon after 9/11, or who worked for longer periods, were also more vulnerable to PTSD. For all occupations except police, the risk of PTSD was greatest among those who worked at the site for more than three months. The finding suggests that shortening work periods, and limiting exposure of those who have less prior exposure to trauma, might help reduce PTSD rates in future emergencies.

“Post-traumatic stress disorder can be devastating, affecting people’s families and work lives,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, New York City Health Commissioner. “People with PTSD are also more likely to suffer from depression and substance abuse. The Registry helps us gauge the persistence of these problems over time. It also helps us inform the public and the medical community about the health effects of 9/11, so that people can get the best possible care.”

The survey found that firefighters developed PTSD at nearly twice the rate of police officers (12.2% versus 6.2%), a finding consistent with past research. The discrepancy is not well understood, but the authors offer several possible explanations. It may reflect the rigorous screening that police recruits undergo, but it could also reflect under-reporting by police officers who fear being judged unfit for duty. In addition, firefighters lost six times as many comrades as police officers, suggesting that grief may have compounded the trauma and the risk of PTSD.

Sustaining an injury, or having to evacuate a building, raised the risk of PTSD in nearly all of the groups surveyed. But other risk factors affected only certain types of workers. Performing search and rescue work raised the risk of PTSD for engineering and sanitation workers, but civilian volunteers were more likely to suffer if they engaged in firefighting or light construction work. This suggests again that working outside of one’s area of expertise can place people at risk for developing PTSD.

The new findings highlight the value of disaster preparedness and training for all types of emergency responders, and point to concrete steps that could help minimize PTSD in future disasters:

• Use shift rotations to reduce workers’ and volunteers’ duration of service at emergency sites.

• Establish mental-health services to address the needs of rescue and recovery workers who have received less disaster training than police and fire staff.

The Health Department has linked all survey participants with mental-health issues to LifeNet, a 24-hour hotline operated by the Mental Health Association of New York City. LifeNet provides an assessment, information and referrals and assists the caller in determining an appropriate place for care. When a person is in crisis, LifeNet will refer to a Mobile Crisis Team and will follow up to ensure contact is made. If you or someone you know is suffering with PTSD, or any other emotional or substance abuse problem, call 311 and ask for LifeNet. Services are available in multiple languages.

NewsInferno.com reports:
World Trade Center rescue workers have much higher rates of asthma than the general population. That conclusion comes from a recent analysis of the World Trade Center Health Registry by the New York City Health Department, which found that 3.6 percent of World Trade Center first responders have developed asthma in the years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That’s 12 times higher than the rate of asthma in the normal adult population.

About 71,000 rescue workers are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry. The Health Department surveyed the health records of 25,000 people on the Registry between 2003 and 2004. The study found that asthma rates were highest among rescue workers who arrived at Ground Zero the soonest and stayed the longest. Seven percent of first responders who arrived at the site on September 11 and worked more than 90 days have developed asthma since 2001. The Health Department also found that a World Trade rescue worker’s occupation had little effect on the risk of developing asthma. Fire fighters, police officers, EMS workers and volunteers all had about the same asthma rates. The survey did find that a worker’s location at Ground Zero affected asthma risks. World Trade Center rescue workers who were caught in the dust cloud when the buildings collapsed or worked directly on the debris pile had asthma rates as high as 4.9 percent.

Respirators did offer Ground Zero first responders some protection from the site’s toxic dust. The Health Department found that only 2.9 to 4 percent of workers who wore respirators on September 11 and 12 ended up with asthma. Between 4.5 and 6.3 percent of those who worked at Ground Zero the first two days without respirators developed the disease. But though the respirators appeared to offer some protection, the Health Department found that asthma rates were still higher than the general population in every group of World Trade Center rescue workers it surveyed.

The Health Department study is not the first to show that World Trade Center first responders are plagued with chronic health problems. An earlier study by the Mt. Sinai Medical Center found that of 9,000 emergency workers, 70 percent had suffered some type of lung ailment after the attacks, and that 60 percent still faced respiratory problems. Another report released by the FDNY in early May reported that cases of the rare lung disease sarcoidosis had risen dramatically among firefighters and EMS workers who had spent time at Ground Zero.

And the worst may not be over. The toxic dust that rescue workers were exposed to was filled with dangerous carcinogens like asbestos and dioxin. Public health authorities are already bracing for what might be the next wave of health problems related to the 9/11 tragedy - a surge in cancer and cancer-related deaths among rescue workers. Advocates for the workers estimate that the cost of caring for them could eventually reach $393 million each year, and have asked the federal government to set aside more funds for their treatment and monitoring

When The Cullman Times in Cullman, Ala. printed a pledge two weeks ago, the newspaper made several promises.

Among them, they pledged to print all viewpoints in the paper, including those with which they disagree. And this week they followed through with that promise.

The opinion page printed an opinion that we many readers found offensive. Donnie Nobinger sharply criticized the U.S. military and said the World Trade Center’s destruction was a government conspiracy.

Practically as soon as the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were executed, conspiracy theories began to emerge. Some people blamed it on Jews or thought it was carried out by a “new world order,” and others concocted stories about the tragedy being predicted by the French mystic Nostradamus. And someone, somewhere, probably thought it was connected to space aliens.

These conspiracy theories shouldn’t come as a surprise, after all, because of how frightening it is to think about what happened that September morning. It’s only human nature to try to find some other explanation — however implausible — that’s less emotionally jarring than the reality of terrorists killing random, innocent people going about their normal lives in American cities.

The most recent Sept. 11 conspiracy theory to emerge is that the buildings were destroyed by explosives in a controlled demolition. And it shares one thing with all the other conspiracies: it’s absolute bunk.

An argument this weak may not even deserve a response, but we’ll try anyway.

If the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were destroyed on purpose, it would have required precision placement of explosives throughout the building’s support structure. And that would have had to happen in buildings with tens of thousands of workers and some of the tightest security on Earth. Would that be possible without anyone asking questions at the time, or all the survivors failing to mention it after the towers fell? Of course not. It’s baloney.

The Times Herald Record in upstate New York says:
Race Honors Memory of Trade Center victim …
The sixth anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy is around the corner and the Meehans still try to make sense of it. They try to understand how and why something like this could have happened. They wonder how one of their own could have been victimized, how a loving, devoted family man with a beautiful wife and a beautiful baby boy and a girl on the way could have been in that building at that time.

“We’re doing OK,'’ Janine Lynch says softly. She’s talking about the entire Meehan family, a big, tight Irish clan, mourning the loss of her brother Damian, 32, who died on Sept. 11, 2001. “It doesn’t get easier. You learn to live with it. But the pain is always there.'’

Damian Jr. is 7 and Madison 5 now. The mother is named Joann, and she’s doing OK, Janine says. She’s a terrific mom, Janine says, which makes sense because Damian was a terrific dad. Now they have his spirit and memories of him and the Damian Meehan Memorial Fund that raises $100,000 a year, including $25,000 in scholarships for high school seniors.

The biggest fundraiser is the annual Damian Meehan Memorial Run, a 3.1-mile cross country race and walk to be held on Sept. 8 in Central Valley. But even the race carries a tinge of sadness. Some 750 runners and walkers showed up the first year. Last year there were around 300.

There are many reasons for the downturn. But the main thing is that people are so darn busy. When’s the last time you sat around on a Saturday or Sunday trying to find something to do? Better yet, the last time you got together with a neighbor?

The answer is always the same: too busy. Too busy working. Too busy chauffeuring the kids from activity to activity. Too busy being spun around by life’s daily grind. We are a society of people who constantly move without stopping to appreciate the smell and taste and feel of life.

The irony is that Damian, those close to him say, held a special love and appreciation for life.

September 11 is a day we’d like to forget. It is the day we’ll always remember. This is a play on the City Room page of the New York Times. The anniversary of 9/11 is less than a month away. How should we remember something we’d like to forget?
The Times says news reports about public emergencies and ground zero cause the memories to come rushing back.

And then there are the annual ceremonies. The sixth anniversary is less than a month away, and some City Room blog readers are thinking about how the date is commemorated.

A report about the Freedom Tower drew this comment from Dick C.:

I’m getting tired of it all (I’m a New Yorker and know families that have lost relatives during 9/11). Let’s move on in life and build what is essential for the business there. Stop making it an eternal funeral party. I just came back from Banda Aceh in Indonesia (The tsunami drowned 150,000 people there less than three years ago). The people there already continued their life the way it was. So should New York.

And the relocation of the annual ceremony to a nearby park prompted this comment from Wendi:

I understood that in time it would eventually come to pass that our memorials would become more private affairs as years pass and more and more time went by. I just wasn’t ready for that to be this year … so soon. I still need that coming together in community with others who fully understand, who I take comfort from and whose strength makes me believe we will survive. I just think the relocation could’ve waited a little while longer without anyone being “hurt,” especially since work stops during the ceremony.
The newspaper wants to know how much attention should we pay to the anniversary of 9/11 after six years? This is not a rhetorical question. The newspaper is looking for emails from people willing to talk about the appropriate way to commemorate the anniversary.

AmNew York is calling recent fiascoes at the Deutsche Bank site the tail that wagged the WTC dog.
“The place had already become a nest of fiascoes and everyone knew it,” the website says. “The mysteries of the selection of contractors had been raised before — as had the hazards of falling debris from the site. Some state officials seemed to suggest in statements earlier in the week that the drive to protect surrounding air quality and keep toxins from escaping the building ended up unintentionally compromising fire safety.

But the concerns are even more complex than that. For practical reasons, the problem-plagued toxic tower that formerly housed the Deutsche Bank must come down for the wider Ground Zero plan, including the so-called Freedom Tower, to proceed as scheduled. This has to do with the engineering details of underground sewer lines and protective walls and construction vehicle access. There are many moving parts to the overall plan as it stands.

‘ “This building has become the tail that wags the dog,’ “ said one infrastructure expert.

Thursday one official acknowledged a ‘potential” for delay due to the blaze and its aftermath, but added, “we really do not know yet.’ The wider plans called for leveling the structure at 130 Liberty St. by the end of this year.

Another insider expressed hope, however, that an emerging consensus view — take down the damned tower as quickly as possible — will come to prevail and move the dismantling along.”

I won’t go there and suggest there has been too much bungling downtown but problems at the Deutsche Bank building seem to be mounting.
Two more NYFD men were injured today when a piece of equipment crashed into a shed at the Ground Zero site. The building could have safely been brought down years ago when people were afraid to go anywhere near Ground Zero. The bungling began then.
The New York Times says The building is “located across the street from the World Trade Center and damaged in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Work to demolish the building had been halted after a fire broke out there on Saturday, killing two firefighters. But a small group of workers were still working at the site to shore up the damaged and condemned building, remove debris and contain toxic material when the accident occurred, fire officials said.

“The accident is the latest chapter in the seemingly doomed effort to dismantle a building that was damaged beyond repair on 9/11. Residents and elected officials have long complained that the work has taken too long and endangered those who live and work near the site, at 130 Liberty Street in the World Trade Center area. The building, which once stood at 41 stories, has been brought down to 26 stories.

The fire department said that a construction worker entered an elevator at the work site at about 2 p.m. with a pallet jack, when he “lost control of the motorized lifting tool.”

“The pallet jack crashed through the hoistway door and fell through a construction shed on the ground level,” the fire department said in a statement. “Two firefighters standing under the shed were injured when there was a partial collapse.”

The two firefighters were taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition late this afternoon, fire offiicials said.

The China People’s Daily reports that the contractors responsible for the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building in Manhattan may face charges of criminally negligent homicide after investigators found that faulty water pipes led to the death of two firefighters.

The New York Fire Department on Tuesday accused the construction company dismantling the building for failing to maintain a standpipe that was supposed to deliver water to firefighters battling Saturday’s seven-alarm fire.

The city said the standpipe had been disconnected and a piece of the pipe was lying on the floor. That forced firefighters to haul hoses up the side of the building using ropes.

Thousands of gallons of water ended up being dumped directly into the building’s slab-concrete basement while firefighters stranded with empty hose lines on upper floors were encircled by black smoke from above and below.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday that it will launch a criminal investigation into Saturday’s deadly fire.

Officials from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which owned the building, said they are still trying to figure out what happened.

Both Bovis Lend Lease, the contractor overseeing the entire project, and the John Galt Corporation, the subcontractor in charge of the demolition, declined to comment on the incident until the Fire Department completes its investigation.

Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island and Joseph Graffagnino, 33, of Brooklyn died from the blaze after suffering severe smoke inhalation and going into cardiac arrest.

Graffagnino was remembered by city officials and community members Tuesday at his wake. His funeral is set for Thursday morning at Saint Ephrem’s Church on the Bay Ridge Parkway in Brooklyn.

The funeral of Firefighter Beddia was scheduled for Friday morning at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

This is all too familiar:
From Firehouse.com:
“Two New York City firefighters were killed on Saturday afternoon as they battled a seven-alarm fire in a vacant high-rise building across the street from the World Trade Center site.

Killed were Firefighters Robert Beddia, 53, of Engine 24 and Joseph Graffagnino, 34, of Ladder 5.

“They were found right away, and they were pulled out,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “Doctors said the level of carbon monoxide is at such an elevated level that it’s not surprising that they went into cardiac arrest.”

“Today’s events really are another cruel blow to our city and to our fire department,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

The fire started on the 17th floor of the Deustche Bank, an abandoned 40-story building 1.4 million square feet of office space. Commissioner Scoppetta said the fire was reported just after 3 p.m. by workers who noticed smoke in the building. They called the elevator operator who then found fire on the 17th floor. The construction workers were quickly evacuated.

“This was an especially difficult fire,” Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told the media. “We had to get the hoses up to the 17th floor. We had to use ropes to get the hoses up there.”

A department press release stated that the two firefighters became trapped in “maze-like conditions” on the 14th floor of the building.

Witnesses said that burning pieces of scaffolding floated from the building as the fire raged out several windows and covered lower Manhattan with smoke.

Firefighter Beddia, of Staten Island, was a 23-year veteran of the department. Graffagnino, was an eight-year veteran and lived in Brooklyn. They were the 1,136th and 1,137th members of the department to die in the line of duty.”