Logo

Jurors in the Deutsche Bank manslaughter trial today heard audio of some of the frantic radio dispatches from the 2007 blaze that left two firefighters dead from smoke inhalation.

In the tapes, firefighters battle their way up into the burning, death-trap building.

At first, their obstacles are plywood-blocked stairwells. They ask for saws, their voices calm.

But as they wait in vain for water to fill their hoses, their voices become panicked and their obstacles become life threatening: encroaching smoke and flames, blinding darkness, and dwindling oxygen.

“We’re getting no water on 15,” says one firefighter, despite the “200 pounds of pressure” another says is being pumped up to them.”

“MAYDAY-MAYDAY-MAYDAY,” cries a member from Engine 10 — the firehouse directly across from the blaze.

‘It’s banked down and starting to get hot,” the member continues “We’re on 15, outside the elevators with a number of members trying to find the B stairwell, to evacuate.”

Then the call comes again: “MAYDAY-MAYDAY-MAYDAY.”

Mitchel Alvo, Salvatore DePaola and Jeffrey Melofchik are accused of doing nothing for nine months to fix a broken basement standpipe that should have been available to relay water to the firefighters on the upper floors.

Firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino became trapped on the 14th floor, and died of smoke inhalation after their oxygen ran out.

Testimony in the trial is expected to run through mid-summer.

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy