by JONATHAN LEMIRE
The number of FDNY inspections at construction sites has soared since the deadly Deutsche Bank fire and officials have stopped work at more than two dozen unsafe jobs, records show.
The preliminary investigation into the Aug. 18 blaze that killed two firefighters revealed that the FDNY had, in large part, not been doing mandatory 15-day inspections at buildings being built or demolished, including the doomed bank building that overlooks Ground Zero.
As part of a shakeup at the FDNY that resulted in the reassignment of three officers responsible for the inspections, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta ordered the FDNY to find every construction site in the city and look for fire safety hazards.
"It was a thorough review," an FDNY spokesman. "These inspections are now going to be permanent."
After visiting 485 sites, FDNY inspectors found 122 unsafe conditions and relayed their findings to the Department of Buildings, a Fire Department spokesman said. Another 200 inspections were prompted by calls to the city's 311 phone system, the spokesman said.
In the six-week period after the Aug. 18 fire, the DOB issued 27 stop-work orders that shut down construction sites across the city, records show. Before the fire, 67 stop-work orders had been issued in all of 2007.
The FDNY will also soon begin inspecting the buildings under construction at the site of the former Trade Center, a construction area that was not previously being checked because it is not city-owned property.
The Port Authority, which owns the site, has agreed to stop work if ordered to do so by the FDNY, a spokesman said.
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