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(New York- WABC, September 12, 2007) - The president of the city's Uniformed Firefighters Association on Wednesday said that the FDNY commissioner put lives at risk unnecessarily by failing to act on a proposal for a helicopter with a 1,000-gallon water cannon.
"If we can't get water into a building because the standpipes are disabled or the sprinklers don't work, what are we to do?" UFA President Steve Cassidy said at an afternoon news conference. "Let the building burn? Let people die in the building?"
The proposal was contained in a powerpoint presentation made to FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta two years ago, which was released to the media today.
Top commanders presented it to Scoppetta on March 24 of 2005. This was two days after Chief Siegel sent his memo warning about a fire in the Deutche Bank building. Among those advocating the chopper was retired Chief of Department Peter Hayden.
Cassidy reportedly made a direct connection to the Deutsche Bank fire, insisting, "if we had a chopper that day, the outcome might have been different."
The choppers that were being proposed have the capability of carrying 1,000 gallons of water, and the ability to blast that water directly into a burning building at a high altitude. Similar choppers are in use in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
There is no word on why the Scoppetta did not approve the project, which might have been funded at least in part with Homeland Security grants.
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Francis Gribbon released the following statement:
"It is simply unsafe to use helicopters to suppress high-rise fires in New York City, and the Fire Department has repeatedly rejected that idea due to many operational concerns. However, helicopters have proven to be a valuable resource for surveillance and we have established a protocol with the NYPD. On August 18, 2007 a Battalion Chief was sent up in a NYPD helicopter to monitor the fire at the former Deutsche Bank building."
(Copyright 2007)
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