Cigarette Caused Downtown Blaze
New York, NY —
Fire officials believe careless smoking by construction workers started the fire in the Deutsche Bank building that killed 2 firefighters. Fire chief Nicholas Scoppetta said fire marshals have ruled out faulty equipment as the cause.
The preliminary findings come as Mayor Bloomberg announced the demotion of 3 fire officials, for failing to keep an eye on conditions at the demolition site. Even though firefighting is a dangerous job, the mayor said the city failed to protect firefighters from excessive risk at the building.
The main focus of the investigation is a broken standpipe and the city has sent pieces of the pipe to the FBI to figure out how and when it was dismantled. Fire officials have been ordered to inspect any building under construction, or demolition and to come up with fire plans for buildings that need them.
