By:Monte Leeper
Q I read your article in the October 3, 2001 paper about the construction of the Twin Towers. Why is it the Fire Commissioner of the City of New York didn't have that information, that the building would come down that way? The commissioner said on T.V. that he didn't know that the building would fall in on itself, after approximately one hour The Architects should have given that information to the Fire Department and that would have saved lives.
A The short answer is that the fire department did have the information. Every building, especially big ones, has a building review process, and is issued a permit by the City in which it is located. One of the reasons for the permit process is to make sure that government has the data to safeguard the inhabitants and allow authorities to plan for events, such as fire, crime control (burglary, sniper, hostage situations, etc.), and attack, if necessary.
Sadly, I am sure that scenarios are now being reviewed for bridges, tall buildings, stadiums and public places like shopping malls, and I am also sure that architects and engineers are still being given a minuscule role in developing disaster plans. Fewer people would have been injured or died during the initial rescue if the professionals had been asked to participate, but it appears that top officials, like most of the general public, do not understand the role of building designers.
Engineers and Architects seem to have this stigma of not being capable of handling emergencies, since the average person has relegated them to the role of making drawings, most of which the general public, including police and fire officials, find difficult to interpret, because they are not trained in engineering and material sciences. I was relieved to hear that within the first 3 days of the rescue, construction companies with heavy equipment had been called in to work and the area was cleared of untrained persons. We heard about a few firemen who fell into gaps in the pile of debris. Fortunately, trained construction people were brought in to help plan a more carefully-executed recovery. Otherwise, more of New York's Finest and Bravest may have been lost.
I was sorry to learn of how many dogs have died in the latest recovery efforts, but with the magnitude of the disaster, I am hopeful that our government officials are planning, preparing, and informing their rescue companies for other episodes.
