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Emergency calls capture the dire urgency and confusion inside a blazing Ground Zero skyscraper where two firefighters perished last year.
The FDNY issued a damning report Thursday that details a whirlwind of errors, neglect, missed inspections and communication lapses that led to the deaths of firefighters Joseph Graffagnino, 33, and Robert Beddia, 53, inside the former Deutsche Bank tower on August 18, 2007.
The 176-page report revealed that it took an agonizing 80 minutes to get water on the flames because firefighters were mistakenly told that the tower's broken standpipe was working.
"Are you getting water from me or not?" asks an anxious fire official in the more than 40 pages of emergency radio transmissions released Thursday. "The stairwell we're in, the standpipe doesn't have any water," came the reply.
Firefighters sent more than 30 calls for help -- of them 14 urgent maydays -- but many were lost amid the confusion and radio transmission problems, said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta.
"I got a member down, we're trying to get him out of here on the 14th floor," said the mayday for Graffagnino, who like Beddia died of smoke inhalation. "His PASS alarm is going off -- nonresponsive."
Graffagnino's father said he thinks about his son left alone and dying on that smoky floor.
"He waited for help that never came, and I think that's the saddest part," said Joseph Graffagnino. "He was waiting for his brothers to help him -- and nobody showed up."
The 26-story Deutsche Bank building had been badly damaged during the 9/11 attacks and was being dismantled when a burning cigarette from a construction worker started a fire on the 17th floor, the report said. The fire spread rapidly amid the piles of plywood, sheeting, mesh and construction equipment scattered throughout the empty shell.
Missed inspections meant that the 100 firefighters battling the blaze didn't know about the broken standpipe, sealed staircases and asbestos control machines that worsened the internal smoke conditions and turned the building into a death trap.
"If they could have moved easily to the 13th or 14th floors, they could have removed themselves from danger," Scoppetta said.
Graffagnino's father said all these lapses were tantamount to a crime and he hoped someone would eventually be held responsible. He said blame is shared among a host of agencies -- including the Departments of Building, the landlord, the FDNY, the city, contractors and subcontractors.
"I think it was a combination of blame for this one," said Graffagnino. "It was a perfect storm of problems."
The report is being turned over to the Manhattan District Attorney, which has convened a grand jury to explore possible criminal charges in the tragedy.
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