by Greg B. Smith and Jonathan Lemire
As the firefighters union and FDNY battled yesterday over using a helicopter to fight blazes in skyscrapers like the Deutsche Bank building, the state agreed to reseal the toxic tower to prevent contaminated dust from escaping.
Steven Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, scorched the Fire Department for not owning a chopper, though the FDNY responded by saying that using water-toting helicopters on a burning New York City hi-rise could actually make that fire even more dangerous.
"It is a disgrace that the city of New York does not have a helicopter that can put water on a fire," said Cassidy, noting that cities such as Los Angeles and Miami have such choppers.
Two firefighters died in last month's fire at the shrouded tower overlooking Ground Zero.
Cassidy said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta was urged to ask for Department of Homeland Security funds to acquire a helicopter in March 2005.
"I think it's possible it could have saved lives at the Deutsche Bank building," said Cassidy.
The FDNY said that a chopper's rotor could actually fuel flames, and that the only good use of a helicopter during a fire is for surveillance - and that it already sends a battalion chief aloft in an NYPD helicopter once a blaze reaches two alarms.
"The Fire Department has repeatedly rejected that idea due to many operational concerns," said FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon, who said a chief was airborne during the Aug.18 fire.
Lower Manhattan Development Corp. Chairman Avi Schick had resisted resealing the Deutsche Bank building due to concerns about shoring up floors and ensuring the tower was safe for firefighters.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had pressed the LMDC to reseal the building immediately, citing an unusual detection of dioxin outside the building Aug. 27 and 28.
Schick agreed to reseal the building after meeting yesterday with two of Mayor Bloomberg's top deputies and the regional director of the EPA, officials said.
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