morning lineup firegeezer on 29 Aug 2007 07:08 am
Morning Lineup - August 29
Political Fires
Within hours after the tragedy that killed two FDNY firefighters last week, everybody knew that the weight of political might would come out fast in order to cover up the misdeeds of the meddling politicians. It always begins with a race of $1,500 suits to the microphones to be the first to bewail the loss and to make promises to get “to the bottom” of the mess that caused it. This is followed up with back-room maneuvering to get the blame placed on somebody else, preferably someone who doesn’t have the ability to withstand the blizzard of blaming that pours down on them.
Step one has just been taken in New York. Using the power of the office and the press release, the millionairemayor has very publicly restored the citizens’ trust and the integrity of the city by demoting the station captain. You could see it coming, but just didn’t know who was going to take the fall. The poor guy never had a chance.
Within hours of the fire, the newspapers were (rightly) publishing the long list of deficiencies and shortcomings that various city agencies had ignored and which compounded the FD’s problems on the fire scene. One of them was the fact that the next-door fire station was supposed to do a walk-through inspection at least once a week but they had not done that since March of last year. And why hadn’t they? Well before this fire ever took place, the word had already spread throughout the department grapevines that the station officers had been ordered to stay out of the building completely. They were forbidden to go inside and look around. This was so well known that even one of the newspapers reported on it the day after the fire.
But who generated this standing order, and more importantly why, is the key to it all. The District Attorney’s office is investigating the situation that led to the fire and they are fairly insulated from the City government. But it will still be a challenge to find this particular answer because the politically powerful have severed the chain of command that passed the order along. The captain, his boss the Batt. Chief, and their superior District Chief have all been taken off the street (swiftly and very publicly) and transferred to headquarters where they can be closely watched and controlled. But what about the other two shifts? The message has been sent…..clam up, buddy, or this can happen to you. Dirty stuff.
Now let’s get the equipment checked. See you at the coffee table.
