Jump to full article: AP, 2007-08-28
Author: DAVID B. CARUSO * Associated Press Writer
Intro: The deadly fire at an abandoned ground zero skyscraper has raised questions over whether there is strict enough enforcement of rules banning smoking at certain construction sites.
City officials this week said that they believe careless smoking by demolition workers started the blaze, which filled the tower with a lung-searing soot that killed two firefighters.
Smoking was forbidden in the building, but authorities said the rules were widely ignored. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said workers apparently lit up regularly, including on the 17th floor, where the blaze began.
That smoking was common surprised some fire safety experts, who noted that the tower, which is being dismantled after being damaged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was filled with flammable materials including unusually large amounts of plywood and plastic used to contain asbestos.
"There should have been people walking around saying, 'If you smoke anywhere within 100 feet of this building, you're history,"' . . .
A variety of city and state rules were supposed to have limited cigarette use in the building. . . .
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also bans smoking in any areas where workers are exposed to asbestos because of their jobs.
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