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One of the firefighters injured by a piece of falling construction equipment at the former Deutsche Bank building days after a deadly fire is released from the hospital today.
Firefighter William Corbetis has been at St. Vincent's Hospital with a broken rib and fractured vertebrae in his neck since the August 23rd accident. He also had his spleen removed and 100 staples placed in his head.
Meanwhile, residents of Lower Manhattan should find it a little easier to get around the former Deutsche Bank building.
The Office of Emergency Management says the streets that were closed because of last month's deadly fire at the site have reopened today, now that scaffolding and netting around the building have been secured.
This comes as more questions are being raised about the fire investigation after a test of a broken standpipe was postponed yesterday. Fire officials were ready to test the pipe, only to be told that the contractor, Bovis Lend Lease, was still working on it
The standpipe hasn't been tested since 1996, but Bovis has promised the inspection will happen soon.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he still wants to know why the Fire Department stopped inspecting the pipe.
"A tragedy took place. I can't quite explain why the inspections the Fire Department was supposed to make of the standpipe in the building weren't done," said the mayor. "We're investigating that and have removed the people responsible for the moment. It's an appropriate thing for the fire commissioner to do."
The city has reassigned three fire commanders for failing to inspect the building.
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