Sunday, August 19, 2007

2 NYC Firefighters killed in Skyscraper blaze at ground zero, again building doesn't collapse.


NEW YORK: People looked up, as they did that day in September, in awe and in horror. They clustered in groups, holding cellphones to their ears and cameras to their eyes as a plume of smoke hovered over Lower Manhattan once again.

The multiple-alarm fire broke out Saturday in the vacant Deutsche Bank skyscraper at ground zero, killing two firefighters and injuring at least five others in the relic of the Sept. 11 attacks that was being dismantled.

It was more than the sight that reminded some of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nearly six years ago. It was the sounds and the smell: breaking glass clanking its way down a burning skyscraper, a helicopter's whir somewhere above, an acrid, noxious scent filling the streets.

The Deutsche Bank building had stood as a ghost since parts of the south tower of the World Trade Center came crashing down into it nearly six years ago, leaving it severely damaged and filled with toxic debris, including asbestos, dioxin, lead and chromium.

The building, originally 41 stories, had been partially dismantled to 26 stories. Demolition and toxic substance abatement work inside the structure created obstacles for firefighters trying to reach the fire and put it out, the authorities said.
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