Radio Training Needed After Deadly WTC Fire, FDNY Says

A new report is claiming blocked stairwells, radio confusion and misinformation about the water supply caused the deaths of two fighters last year at a condemned ground zero skyscraper.

The Associated Press’ Amy Westfeldt says fire officials with the FDNY released the 176-page report last week, along with 40 pages of emergency radio transmissions from more than 100 firefighters who went into the former Deutsche Bank tower on Aug. 18, 2007.

The 26-story building was badly damaged during the 9/11 attacks, and was in the process of being dismantled when the fire broke out a year ago on the 17th floor. Two firefighters died of smoke inhalation on the 14th floor.

A grand jury is considering whether to criminally charge contractors or the government agencies overseeing the project.

While Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told Westfeldt the report “is not about affixing blame,” it did detail a number of problems firefighters encountered while battling the blaze.

“Firefighters were told at the scene by construction workers that a standpipe supplying water to fire hoses worked, and 20 minutes were wasted before they realized it was broken, according to the report. It took 13 minutes for workers to call the department, and an additional 67 minutes to get a water supply,” Westfeldt says. “Firefighters sent more than 30 distress signals, including 14 maydays, from inside the burning bank tower, but some weren't heard because they came in at the same time.”

Scoppetta told Westfeldt it was “a failure of radio discipline” and said firefighters would be trained to allow the urgent signals to come through one at a time, keeping channels clear once one signal is posted.

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