by Joshua Rhett Miller
MANHATTAN. FDNY Battalion Chief John McDonnell, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said he took "strong exception" to Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta's decision to single out the three officers before probes by the district attorney and attorney general concluded.
"The UFOA is certain these three fire officers did nothing wrong and will ultimately be found blameless," McDonnell said in a statement.
Contrary to the FDNY, McDonnell said a pre-fire plan at the building was in place, referred to as High Rise procedures.
"If there was water available, that fire would have been extinguished," McDonnell's statement continued.
Due to asbestos abatement at the building, McDonnell said, ordinary interior inspections were not possible.
"The FDNY at the highest level failed to provide guidance in this extraordinary situation," he said. "Fire personnel would have been required to be outfitted with personal protective equipment and breathing apparatus and subsequently they would have to be de-contaminated at the conclusion of the inspection ... It is clear that [Environmental Protection Agency] abatement orders superseded Fire Safety requirements in a hi-rise structure."
Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy also lashed out at the FDNY.
"The reassignment of these three fine officers is a knee-jerk reaction to divert attention from the Fire Commissioner's failed leadership," he said in a statement.
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