Today is the one year anniversary of the tragic Deutsche Bank Building fire that claimed the lives of two of New York's Bravest. The two men, Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia will be memorialized at their firehouse in SoHo. Yet besides that, not much is being done about what happened that terrible day.
Oh sure, safety has improved, don't get me wrong on that. The New York Post tells us all about it and that the godforsaken building will probably stand for another year. What I am ticked off about is getting justice for them. It wasn't just one negligent construction worker that set up these conditions, it was the whole damn city.
From The NY Daily News:
"The issue of fire watch and reviewing the fire watch was extremely important, as were any other safety issues," he said. "They served as one component of a system in which job-site issues were monitored and corrective action taken as necessary."
Other city, state and federal inspectors regularly trolled the site, yet none stopped the practices that led to the fatal blaze.[...]
The Fire Department, which failed to inspect the tower every 15 days as required by law, now says it meets the 15-day target on 93% of buildings.
"It was the perfect storm last year: a contaminated building being taken down by a shady company, and our guys weren't doing the inspections," one FDNY source said.
So now the building is being taken down and every piece removed is quadruple checked. To some that is justice, that things at the site are being done in a safer manner. To me that just seems like they are covering their asses now. For the families, friends and firefighters across the city, those responsible need to be held accountable, no matter how high the blame goes up on the chain of command.
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