Deutsche Bank Fire NYC

Deutsche Bank Fire NYC

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Deutsche Bank Fire NYC

Scenario of the incident

On 11 September 2007, Deutsche Bank located at 130 Liberty Street suffered from damage in the form of collapse of World Trade Center, taking into account that it never reopened again. The collapse of South Tower attack tore down a building of 24 story gash into façade. There were 11 attacks and the cause of attacks was the contamination that spread from the collapse of South Tower (Rivera, 2017). It is also asserted that smoking cigarettes by the employees were the cause of fire. The building was the part of the skyline of Lower Manhattan and it was demolished between 2007 and 2011. The concrete and steel protruded from the building even after a lot of months of collapse. As a result of this incident, two firefighters died, named as Joseph Graffagnino and the other was Robert Beddia. According to the former FDNY Firefighter Steve Olsen, “It was pitch black chocking acrid smoke that was really horrible” (Rivera, 2017). It was asserted that the flames tore through different floors of the building that spent toxic plumes of smoke over Lower Manhattan. In the post-fire investigation, Manhattan's district attorney asserted that there was a lot of evidence of lax safety to the negligent homicide and manslaughter (Rivera, 2017).

Cause of the incident

There are different factors that were considered as the cause of fire. The fire was caused by a cigarette, likely smoked by a worker who was dismantling the skyscraper as they were trying to clean it of the toxic debris that was on the floor. It is reported it was the failure of the standpipe system (Rivera, 2017). It was also reported that the fire department was failed to carry out a required inspection at the tower, although the officials performed the check of the site that asserted, employees failed to abide by the rule of no smoking. Moreover, the spread of fire was also associated with decontamination of asbestos and other toxins. It was found that the contamination was sealed off so as to prevent leakage. Many of the officials believe that this packed contamination created atypical air pressure that caused flames and it facilitated the spread of fire (Rivera, 2017). However, there are varied descriptions and ideas in terms of the causes of the fire taking into account that many of the investigators think FDNY is not the only cause of the incident, major stress should be given to the lack of inspection or heed present recommendations for the plan that could have guided the firefighters.

Lesson Learned

There are several lessons that can be learned from incidents such as the carelessness of stakeholders and workers. It can be highlighted that there would be no fire if employees would have observed the rules and regulation such as no smoking (Admin, 2016). It is also found that the scenario would be different if significant steps would be taken to cater to the concerns associated with the management of water and the waste products. Adequate waste management strategies would have supported to control the spread of fire. There is another aspect that is associated with this incident taking into account the unjust approach towards decision making where powerful people always find a way to escape from justice and the one with low power status are left to be punished. However, safety issues are also a prime concern that is highlighted in this case, taking into account that it is the prime responsibility of the government as well as the stakeholders to ensure that all security measures are in practice (Admin, 2016). There should be a cross-check on the safety highlights so that any requirements or gaps can be met in time and lives of people can be saved.

References

Admin, N. (2016). Deutsche Bank Fire. Nycfirewire.net. Retrieved 11 September 2019, from https://www.nycfirewire.net/entry/deutsche-bank-fire

Rivera, R. (2017). 2 Firefighters Are Dead in Deutsche Bank Fire. City Room. Retrieved 11 September 2019, from https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/2-firefighters-are-dead-in-deutsche-bank-fire/