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Prosecutors from the DA's Rackets Bureau will work with fire marshals and any other interested agencies to determine whether any criminal violations occurred by the construction company dismantling the building.

The president of the firefighters union said that he thinks conducting a criminal investigation is the right thing to do.

"We think that it's critically important that the Manhattan district attorney run an investigation,'" said Uniformed Firefighters Association President Stephen Cassidy. "He has subpoena power. We want people subpoenaed, put under oath, and asked questions, and we want the truth and we think we're only going to get it when people are put under oath.'"

Fire officials say the contractors failed to maintain a standpipe that was supposed to deliver water to firefighters. Instead, firefighters found the standpipe disconnected and were forced to haul hoses up the side of the building using ropes.

The contractor will have to bring the standpipe back into operation before work can continue at the site.

Investigators are also looking into why the building's sprinkler system was not working. The fire appears to have started on the 17th floor, outside a decontamination area, where workers were seen smoking, and where there was electrical equipment.

Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island and Joseph Graffagnino, 33, of Brooklyn died from the blaze after suffering severe smoke inhalation and going into cardiac arrest.

Graffagnino was remembered by city officials and community members Tuesday at his wake.

Earlier Tuesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the Fire Department for its effort to put out the fire without a ready supply of water, but did not seem to anticipate the district attorney's action.

"At this point there's no reason for anybody to think in terms of criminal charges or anything else,'" said Bloomberg. "We just don't know anything more than snippets of what I've just described.'"

The announcement of the DA's inquiry comes the same day that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he will conduct a separate, non-criminal investigation into the deadly fire.

Cuomo says the investigation by the Manhattan DA will take precedence over any state probe. His probe is designed to discover what led to the fire and what steps need to be taken to prevent any repeat.

The UFA president said it's also important for Cuomo to conduct an independent investigation, separate from the one being conducted by City Hall. He wants to know why the Fire Department did not pick up on the faulty standpipe during its regular inspections.

"There were 29 maydays,'" said UFA President Stephen Cassidy. "So, in the end, we lost two firefighters in a toxic building that's about to be torn down. That's unacceptable. It's unacceptable that happened. We need an investigation to find out what led up to Saturday's fire, why the building wasn't inspected, why the standpipe system wasn't operational, and why the New York City Fire Department did not know it was not operational. And certainly those questions need to be answered. That's why we're calling for an independent investigation.'"

Officials from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation – which owned the building – say they are still trying to figure out what happened.

"Obviously something went wrong, but we've gone through extraordinary efforts and spared no efforts and we're going to continue to do so,'" said Avi Schick of the LMDC.

Meanwhile, the community board for Lower Manhattan also held an emergency public hearing Tuesday night. Residents want to know if they're being told the truth about the air quality.