Fire officials continue to investigate yesterday afternoon’s seven-alarm blaze that took the lives of two of New York’s Bravest in the Deutsche Bank building in Lower Manhattan.   i

Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino – a 34-year-old Brooklyn resident with eight years on the job and Robert Bedia – a 23-year veteran from Staten Island were working on the 14th floor of the soon to be demolished building at 130 Liberty Street when they became trapped and overcome by smoke.

They suffered severe smoke inhalation and went into cardiac arrest. Both men worked at Manhattan's Ladder 5 Engine 24 Battalion 2 – a SoHo firehouse that lost 11 members on 9/11.

Nearly 300 firefighters from across the city struggled to hoist hoses up to the 17th floor as flames spread to adjacent floors.

The abandoned building was being dismantled after being contaminated in the September 11th attacks, and toxic substances and nearly 800 potential human remains have been found there.

Officials say the deaths are a tough a blow for New York's bravest, especially in the wake of the terror attacks.

"Our city has worked hard to recover from that awful day in September almost six years ago, and today's sad events have extended the sacrifice the city and Fire Department have made,” said the mayor Saturday night. “We will mourn them and we will honor their memory as we have all of their brothers."

"Terrible event, terrible tragedy, and that house being hit again makes it all the more devastating," said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta.

At least six other firefighters suffered minor injuries, none seriously.

Officials stress the building is now structurally sound, and they don't believe it poses any environmental risk. Preliminary air tests show there are no toxic substances in the air, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the rest of the results are expected later today.

Crews had already dismantled 14 of the buildings 40 floors and monitors were inside as part of the on-going construction effort.

Residents in the area were kept away from their homes for a while and traffic was a mess.

Back in May, construction in the building was temporary suspended after a 22-foot pipe fell into a nearby firehouse.

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Meg Hammond, a witness of the blaze, captured this image of the Deutsche Bank building on fire in Manhattan. Photo by cnn.com

A HUGE fire has ripped through an abandoned skyscraper next to the World Trade Centre rebuilding site in New York, killing two firefighters.

Officers at the scene today were preventing nearby residents from returning to their homes, telling them that authorities were concerned the former Deutsche Bank office building, vacant since the September 11 terrorist attacks six years ago turned it into a toxic nightmare, could fall.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said later that fear turned out to be unfounded.

The plume of grey smoke that trailed above the site of the World Trade Centre raised concerns that toxic substances in the building could be spreading.

Bloomberg sought to reassure residents that the chemicals in the building likely did not present a significant health risk, saying air-quality tests so far showed no danger.

"Having said that, we are extremely careful. We don't want to prejudge anything," the mayor added. Tests were to continue overnight, he said.

Two firefighters were killed, and five or six others were taken to a hospital but were expected to be released, Bloomberg said. No civilians were hurt.

Construction crews had already dismantled 14 of the building's 40 storeys - reaching the 26th floor on Tuesday. Some firefighters used stairs to reach the burning upper floors of the building, just steps from where 343 firefighters lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Smoke pouring from the burning building was visible from midtown Manhattan and the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.

The acrid smell of smoke, which hung over the neighbourhood for days after September 11, returned to lower Manhattan along with the wail of emergency vehicles. More than three dozen fire vehicles, with more than 160 firefighters, responded to the blaze as pieces of burning debris fell from the building to the streets.

Residents said they were not allowed home even to rescue their pets.

"We heard this crashing," said Elizabeth Hughes, who saw the fire start from her rooftop deck across from the tower. "And then a huge fire that went up three floors fast. It was massive. ... Oh my God! I can't even go in and get my cats."

The 130,000-square-metre office tower was contaminated with toxic dust and debris after the World Trade Centre's south tower collapsed into it in 2001. Bloomberg said the chemicals in the building did not present a significant health risk.

Efforts to dismantle it were halted by an industrial dispute last year, along with the ongoing search for the remains of attack victims.

City officials announced in June they had completed recovery efforts at the structure. More than 700 human remains were found at the site.

- AP

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