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by ALISON GENDAR
The FDNY'S new $11 million safety ropes - which were pulled after one jammed and left a firefighter dangling during a test run - have been rejiggered and the new design is working, fire officials said yesterday.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta yanked the ropes this month when a flaw was discovered in the device firefighters use to control how fast they descend using the rope.
Fire officials met with manufacturer Petzl and jointly redesigned the lowering device. So far, the new version has worked smoothly in 1,000 practice slides, officials said yesterday.
The rope systems, which cost $11million to research and develop, were ordered after Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew leaped to their deaths from a window at a Jan. 23 Bronx blaze.
Four other firefighters were seriously injured in the 50-foot plunge.
The flaw in the ropes was uncovered during a drill Oct. 11, a week after the highly touted lifesavers debuted.
The manufacturer will produce several prototypes of the revised design, which adds a U-bolt to the mechanism that feeds the rope.
If the redesign passes more tests, the safety ropes will go into mass production and be issued to city firefighters starting in mid-December, officials said yesterday. The first design went through 7,500 tests before the jam occurred.
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