Firefighter Magazine Raps 9/11 Probe
1. The New York Daily News paraphrase and interview with Bill
Manning, editor of fire Engineering
2. Manning's original Fire Engineering editorial, January 2001.
3. Another Fire Engineering editorial, same issue.
The third article affirms the plane wrecks by suicide hijackers, affirms the
collapse of the WTC by fire -- but most compelling, observes that WTC is
"the first total collapse of a high-rise during a fire in United States history."
Ahem. Quite a landmark event. Most remarkable, given the statements in
NYDN editorial that: "The World Trade Center is not the only lightweight,
core construction high-rise in the U.S. It's a typical method of construction."
But the US Government (FEMA etc.) is moving rapidly to destroy the evidence,
cutting it up and selling it for scrap without serious investigation --
eerily reminiscent of the Murrah Building (OKC) destruction and cleanup, and
of the quarantine and excavation of the site where scores of Branch
Davidians died in Waco.
Row, row, row your boat ... truth is whatever they tell us it is.
J
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http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-01-04/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-137143.asp?
last6days=1
[Note: If you want to see on its original web page through the URL above, I
suggest you get it today. Otherwise, it may be available only through the
archives.]
From: News and Views | City Beat |
Friday, January 04, 2002
Firefighter Mag
Raps 9/11 Probe
By JOE CALDERONE
Daily News Chief of Investigations
A respected firefighting trade magazine with ties to the city Fire
Department is calling for a "full-throttle, fully resourced" investigation
into the collapse of the World Trade Center.
A signed editorial in the January issue of Fire Engineering magazine says
the current investigation is "a half-baked farce."
The piece by Bill Manning, editor of the 125-year-old monthly that
frequently publishes technical studies of major fires, also says the steel
from the site should be preserved so investigators can examine what caused
the collapse.
"Did they throw away the locked doors from the Triangle Shirtwaist fire? Did
they throw away the gas can used at the Happy Land social club fire? ...
That's what they're doing at the World Trade Center," the editorial says.
"The destruction and removal of evidence must stop immediately."
Fire Engineering counted FDNY Deputy Chief Raymond Downey, the department's
chief structural expert, among its senior advisers. Downey was killed in the
Sept. 11 attack.
John Jay College's fire engineering expert, Prof. Glenn Corbett, serves as
the magazine's technical editor.
A group of engineers from the American Society of Civil Engineers, with
backing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been studying some
aspects of the collapse. But Manning and others say that probe has not
looked at all aspects of the disaster and has had limited access to
documents and other evidence.
A growing number of fire protection engineers have theorized that "the
structural damage from the planes and the explosive ignition of jet fuel in
themselves were not enough to bring down the towers," the editorial stated.
A FEMA spokesman, John Czwartacki, said agency officials had not yet seen
the editorial and declined to comment.
Norida Torriente, a spokeswoman for the American Society of Civil Engineers,
described her group's study as a "beginning" and "not a definitive work."
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has joined a group of relatives of firefighters
who died in the attack in calling for a blue-ribbon panel to study the
collapse.
"We have to learn from incidents through investigation to determine what
types of codes should be in place and what are the best practices for
high-rise construction," Manning told the Daily News. "The World Trade
Center is not the only lightweight, core construction high-rise in the U.S.
It's a typical method of construction."
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http://fe.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=OnlineArticles&Su
bSection=Display&PUBLICATION_ID=25&ARTICLE_ID=131225
"Burning Questions...Need Answers": FE's Bill Manning Calls for
Comprehensive Investigation of WTC Collapse
Fair Lawn, NJ, January 4, 2002 - Bill Manning, Fire Engineering's editor in
chief, is summoning members of the fire service to "A Call to Action." In
his January 2002 Editor's Opinion, "$elling Out the Investigation" (below ),
he warns that unless there is a full-blown investigation by an independent
panel established solely for that purpose, "the World Trade Center fire and
collapse will amount to paper- and computer-generated hypotheticals."
Manning explained: "Clearly, there are burning questions that need answers
.... The lessons about the buildings' design and behavior in this
extraordinary event must be learned and applied in the real world."
In an interview with the New York Daily News today, Manning reiterated his
call for a "full-throttle, fully resourced" investigation into the collapse
of the World Trade Center. He is asking members of the fire service to read
"WTC 'Investigation'? A Call to Action" in the January 2002 issue of Fire
Engineering and at fireengineering.com and to contact their representatives
in Congress and officials in Washington to ask that a blue ribbon panel be
convened to thoroughly investigate the WTC collapse.
Among those also calling for the investigation are Sally Regenhard, the
mother of Christian Regenhard, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY)
probationary firefighter killed in the World Trade Center (WTC) attack, and
founder of the Campaign for Skyscraper Safety; Give Your Voice, a civilian
relatives' group headed by Michael Cartier, who lost his brother in the
collapse; prominent structural engineers and fire-safety experts, and New
York State Senators Charles Schumer and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
[Continuing text from the Fire Engineering page]
$elling Out the Investigation
By Bill Manning
Did they throw away the locked doors from the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire? Did
they throw away the gas can used at the Happyland Social Club Fire? Did they
cast aside the pressure-regulating valves at the Meridian Plaza Fire? Of
course not. But essentially, that's what they're doing at the World Trade
Center.
For more than three months, structural steel from the World Trade Center has
been and continues to be cut up and sold for scrap. Crucial evidence that
could answer many questions about high-rise building design practices and
performance under fire conditions is on the slow boat to China, perhaps
never to be seen again in America until you buy your next car.
Such destruction of evidence shows the astounding ignorance of government
officials to the value of a thorough, scientific investigation of the
largest fire-induced collapse in world history. I have combed through our
national standard for fire investigation, NFPA 921, but nowhere in it does
one find an exemption allowing the destruction of evidence for buildings
over 10 stories tall.
Hoping beyond hope, I have called experts to ask if the towers were the only
high-rise buildings in America of lightweight, center-core construction. No
such luck. I made other calls asking if these were the only buildings in
America with light-density, sprayed-on fireproofing. Again, no luck-they
were two of thousands that fit the description.
Comprehensive disaster investigations mean increased safety.
They mean positive change. NASA knows it. The NTSB knows it.
Does FEMA know it?
No. Fire Engineering has good reason to believe that the "official
investigation" blessed by FEMA and run by the American Society of Civil
Engineers is a half-baked farce that may already have been commandeered by
political forces whose primary interests, to put it mildly, lie far afield
of full disclosure. Except for the marginal benefit obtained from a
three-day, visual walk-through of evidence sites conducted by ASCE
investigation committee members- described by one close source as a "tourist
trip"-no one's checking the evidence for anything.
Maybe we should live and work in planes. That way, if disaster strikes, we
will at least be sure that a thorough investigation will help find ways to
increase safety for our survivors.
As things now stand and if they continue in such fashion, the investigation
into the World Trade Center fire and collapse will amount to paper- and
computer-generated hypotheticals.
However, respected members of the fire protection engineering community are
beginning to raise red flags, and a resonating theory has emerged: The
structural damage from the planes and the explosive ignition of jet fuel in
themselves were not enough to bring down the towers. Rather, theory has it,
the subsequent contents fires attacking the questionably fireproofed
lightweight trusses and load-bearing columns directly caused the collapses
in an alarmingly short time. Of course, in light of there being no real
evidence thus far produced, this could remain just unexplored theory.
The frequency of published and unpublished reports raising questions about
the steel fireproofing and other fire protection elements in the buildings,
as well as their design and construction, is on the rise. The builders and
owners of the World Trade Center property, the Port Authority of New
York-New Jersey, a governmental agency that operates in an accountability
vacuum beyond the reach of local fire and building codes, has denied charges
that the buildings' fire protection or construction components were
substandard but has refused to cooperate with requests for documentation
supporting its contentions.
Some citizens are taking to the streets to protest the investigation
sellout. Sally Regenhard, for one, wants to know why and how the building
fell as it did upon her unfortunate son Christian, an FDNY probationary
firefighter. And so do we.
Clearly, there are burning questions that need answers. Based on the
incident's magnitude alone, a full-throttle, fully resourced, forensic
investigation is imperative. More important, from a moral standpoint, for
the safety of present and future generations who live and work in tall
buildings-and for firefighters, always first in and last out-the lessons
about the buildings' design and behavior in this extraordinary event must be
learned and applied in the real world.
To treat the September 11 incident any differently would be the height of
stupidity and ignorance.
The destruction and removal of evidence must stop immediately.
The federal government must scrap the current setup and commission a fully
resourced blue ribbon panel to conduct a clean and thorough investigation of
the fire and collapse, leaving no stones unturned.
Firefighters, this is your call to action. Visit WTC "Investigation"?: A
Call to Action, then contact your representatives in Congress and officials
in Washington and help us correct this problem immediately.
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http://fe.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=OnlineArticles&Su
bSection=Display&PUBLICATION_ID=25&ARTICLE_ID=130026
WTC "INVESTIGATION"?: A CALL TO ACTION
Never again! In the wake of the World Trade Center, we are left with many
thoughts-thoughts of friends lost, thoughts of devastated families, thoughts
of the tremendous impact on so many lives for so many years to come. Yet,
we-America's fire service-are left with one critical thought: How can we
prevent a disaster like this from ever happening again?
Yes, it was the terrorist pilots who slammed two jetliners into the Twin
Towers. It was the ensuing fire, however, that brought the towers down.
Make no mistake about it: This high-rise collapse was no "fluke." The
temperatures experienced and heat release rates achieved at the World Trade
Center could be seen in future high-rise fires.
There are many, many questions to be asked by us about the World Trade
Center collapse and its implications on high-rise firefighting across the
nation. Some questions are political, many are technical, others are
philosophical. Here are a few (in no particular order) to think about.
* Given the typical resources of most fire departments, can we be
expected to handle every high-rise fire thrown at us? When was
the last time your city manager asked you for a complete list
of resources that you need to fight a high-rise fire, including
personnel? When was the last time a high-rise building owner
asked if you would like him to install a special "firefighter
elevator" for your exclusive use during a high-rise fire? When
was the last time a building code committee called up a
"downtown" battalion chief and asked him what he thought of the
unlimited area and height provisions found in all of the model
building codes-is it OK if we allow a 400-story building in
your battalion, Chief? The bottom line is, Can we really handle
high-rise fires adequately? Who are we kidding? Isn't this the
"big secret" that Chief Vincent Dunn has been talking about for
years?
* Beware the truss! Frank Brannigan has been admonishing us for
years about this topic. It has been reported that the World
Trade Center floors were supported by lightweight steel
trusses, some in excess of 50 feet long. Need we say more?
* Modern sprayed-on steel "fireproofing" did not perform well at
the World Trade Center. Haven't we always been leery about
these materials? Why do many firefighters say that they would
rather fight a high-rise fire in an old building than in a
modern one? Isn't it because of the level of fire resistance
provided? How much confidence do we have in the ASTM E-119 fire
resistance test, whose test criteria were developed in the
1920s? ASTM E-119 is an antiquated test whose criteria for fire
resistance do not replicate today's fires.
* The defend-in-place strategy was the wrong strategy at the
World Trade Center. Many of those who ignored the directions
to "stay where you are" are alive today because they
self-evacuated. Do you still use defend-in-place strategies
for large high-rise fires? When should you use them, and when
should you not?
* We can see live broadcasts from Afghanistan, but we can't
communicate via radios in many high-rise buildings. What
gives?
There are many more questions, more than we have answers for. What is clear
is that things must change. Where do we begin? By putting things in
perspective. The World Trade Center disaster was
* The largest loss of firefighters ever at one incident.
* The second largest loss of life on American soil.
* The first total collapse of a high-rise during a fire in
United States history.
* The largest structural collapse in recorded history.
Now, with that understanding, you would think we would have the largest fire
investigation in world history. You would be wrong. Instead, we have a
series of unconnected and uncoordinated superficial inquiries. No
comprehensive "Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission." No top-notch National
Transportation Safety Board-like response. Ironically, we will probably
gain more detailed information about the destruction of the planes than we
will about the destruction of the towers. We are literally treating the
steel removed from the site like garbage, not like crucial fire scene evidence.
The World Trade Center disaster demands the most comprehensive detailed
investigation possible. No event in our entire fire service history has
ever come close to the magnitude of this incident.
We, the undersigned, call on FEMA to immediately impanel a "World Trade
Center Disaster Review Panel" to coordinate a complete review of all aspects
of the World Trade Center incident.
The panel should be charged with creating a comprehensive report that
examines a variety of topics including determining exactly how and why the
towers collapsed, critiquing the building evacuation procedures and the
means of egress, assessing the buildings' fire protection features (steel
"fireproofing," fire protection systems, etc.), and reviewing the valiant
firefighting procedures employed. In addition, the Panel should be charged
with preparing a detailed set of recommendations, including the critical
changes necessary to our building codes. Please e-mail this (italicized)
call to action to:
President George W. Bush (president@whitehouse.gov)
Senator Charles Schumer (senator@schumer.senate.gov)
Senator Hillary Clinton (senator@clinton.senate.gov)
FEMA Director Joe M. Allbaugh (director@fema.gov)
and to your own congressional representatives. To obtain e-mail addresses
for your representatives, go to www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm and
www.house.gov/writerep/.
Francis L. Brannigan, SFPE
Glenn P. Corbett, PE
Deputy Chief (Ret.) Vincent Dunn, FDNY
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