Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2007 10:50:46 GMT -5
SHOCK TALE OF FIRED CHIEF
By STEVE DUNLEAVY NY POST
September 3, 2007 -- THERE was fatal injury. Now here comes the insult.
Booted Battalion Chief John McDonald, in his first public comments since the Deutsche Bank fire that cost two fine men their lives, has told me a remarkable story, and union official Jack McDonnell's reading of it makes it even more incredible.
"On Wednesday, three days after the [Aug. 18] fire, before we were relieved of command, I was called in to set up emergency fire plans for two buildings which had similar hazardous conditions as the Deutsche Bank," Chief McDonald said.
Those buildings were at 130 Cedar St. and Fitterman Hall, 30 West Broadway.
Wait a minute. So the brass at the FDNY make an urgent call to Chief McDonald to devise a crisis plan, and then amazingly and inexplicably, five days later, torpedo his professional life, as well as two others?
It gets better.
McDonnell, the head of McDonald's union, the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said the debacle only shows that there would have been a similar plan in place for the Deutsche Bank site near Ground Zero before the fire.
"The fact that the Fire Department headquarters wanted the chief to draw up fire plans for 130 Cedar and Fitterman Hall leads me to believe they would have requested the same plan for the Deutsche Bank earlier," McDonnell said.
So much for "the ongoing investigation" that everyone is using as a shield so they don't come up with the real facts.
"If there is an ongoing investigation and people can't talk about it, apparently someone is playing political hardball without an investigation, and we go," Chief McDonald said.
For 27 years, McDonald was there with his men, battling blazes, sucking down smoke and going to funerals of beloved brothers.
"Then [Aug. 27], eight days after that terrible fire, I was told, 'You've lost your assignment, you're gone,' " McDonald told me.
"I was shocked. There was nothing further from my mind that it would happen. It was beyond my understanding and still is."
The worst kept secret in what has become a growing scandal is that everyone right up the flagpole knew about the condition of Deutsche Bank.
"There was black mold . . . asbestos, mercury, concrete dust and heavy metal dust in that building," McDonald said.
Yet, who have never been in a blaze accusing McDonald and two other brther fire officials of not following normal procedures.
Said Chief McDonald: "This was not a normal building, a normal site. And it is [the Environmental Protection Agency] that is literally in charge of abatement in that building. I don't know what the heck is going to happen, but always foremost in my mind is to look after my men."
Now, two of those men are gone. Both Chief McDonald and Deputy Chief Richard Fuerch were particularly and cruelly hit by the deaths of Joseph Graffagnino and Bobby Beddia.
"Both the chief and I worked with those two really great guys for a long time, when we worked in Battalion 2," Fuerch said.
Fuerch said he is devastated by the deaths of Graffagnino and Beddia. But 33 years on the job have helped him see who his friends are.
"One thing that has been overwhelming out of all of this is the support I've had from people I haven't heard from in years," Fuerch said.
On the issue of how the crucial water standpipe in the building's basement was severed, both men said that if there really is an investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment about the issue right now.
But union chief McDonnell insisted: "This was a criminal act and not a time for firefighters to be blamed."
"We'll cooperate, and then a lot more will come out in the wash," Fuerch added.
Yes, I believe it will all come out in the wash, but for Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, a decision-challenged bureaucrat, to burn the careers of three fine men to cool a poison political climate without a full investigation is a disgrace.
steve.dunleavy@nypost.com
****
JIMMY SAYS: THROWING GOOD MEN TO THE DOGS, FAVORITE PASTIME OF BOTH NYPD AND NYFD BRASS TO COVER THEIR POLITICAL ASSES.
DISGUSTING!
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:
Politicians who have never been in a blaze accusing McDonald and two other brother fire officials of not following normal procedures.
TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN.
JIMMY MADDER THAN HE-L.
By STEVE DUNLEAVY NY POST
September 3, 2007 -- THERE was fatal injury. Now here comes the insult.
Booted Battalion Chief John McDonald, in his first public comments since the Deutsche Bank fire that cost two fine men their lives, has told me a remarkable story, and union official Jack McDonnell's reading of it makes it even more incredible.
"On Wednesday, three days after the [Aug. 18] fire, before we were relieved of command, I was called in to set up emergency fire plans for two buildings which had similar hazardous conditions as the Deutsche Bank," Chief McDonald said.
Those buildings were at 130 Cedar St. and Fitterman Hall, 30 West Broadway.
Wait a minute. So the brass at the FDNY make an urgent call to Chief McDonald to devise a crisis plan, and then amazingly and inexplicably, five days later, torpedo his professional life, as well as two others?
It gets better.
McDonnell, the head of McDonald's union, the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said the debacle only shows that there would have been a similar plan in place for the Deutsche Bank site near Ground Zero before the fire.
"The fact that the Fire Department headquarters wanted the chief to draw up fire plans for 130 Cedar and Fitterman Hall leads me to believe they would have requested the same plan for the Deutsche Bank earlier," McDonnell said.
So much for "the ongoing investigation" that everyone is using as a shield so they don't come up with the real facts.
"If there is an ongoing investigation and people can't talk about it, apparently someone is playing political hardball without an investigation, and we go," Chief McDonald said.
For 27 years, McDonald was there with his men, battling blazes, sucking down smoke and going to funerals of beloved brothers.
"Then [Aug. 27], eight days after that terrible fire, I was told, 'You've lost your assignment, you're gone,' " McDonald told me.
"I was shocked. There was nothing further from my mind that it would happen. It was beyond my understanding and still is."
The worst kept secret in what has become a growing scandal is that everyone right up the flagpole knew about the condition of Deutsche Bank.
"There was black mold . . . asbestos, mercury, concrete dust and heavy metal dust in that building," McDonald said.
Yet, who have never been in a blaze accusing McDonald and two other brther fire officials of not following normal procedures.
Said Chief McDonald: "This was not a normal building, a normal site. And it is [the Environmental Protection Agency] that is literally in charge of abatement in that building. I don't know what the heck is going to happen, but always foremost in my mind is to look after my men."
Now, two of those men are gone. Both Chief McDonald and Deputy Chief Richard Fuerch were particularly and cruelly hit by the deaths of Joseph Graffagnino and Bobby Beddia.
"Both the chief and I worked with those two really great guys for a long time, when we worked in Battalion 2," Fuerch said.
Fuerch said he is devastated by the deaths of Graffagnino and Beddia. But 33 years on the job have helped him see who his friends are.
"One thing that has been overwhelming out of all of this is the support I've had from people I haven't heard from in years," Fuerch said.
On the issue of how the crucial water standpipe in the building's basement was severed, both men said that if there really is an investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment about the issue right now.
But union chief McDonnell insisted: "This was a criminal act and not a time for firefighters to be blamed."
"We'll cooperate, and then a lot more will come out in the wash," Fuerch added.
Yes, I believe it will all come out in the wash, but for Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, a decision-challenged bureaucrat, to burn the careers of three fine men to cool a poison political climate without a full investigation is a disgrace.
steve.dunleavy@nypost.com
****
JIMMY SAYS: THROWING GOOD MEN TO THE DOGS, FAVORITE PASTIME OF BOTH NYPD AND NYFD BRASS TO COVER THEIR POLITICAL ASSES.
DISGUSTING!
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:
Politicians who have never been in a blaze accusing McDonald and two other brother fire officials of not following normal procedures.
TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN.
JIMMY MADDER THAN HE-L.
