Weeks After Fire, Deutsche Pipe Fixed

A broken standpipe blamed for exacerbating a fire that killed two firefighters in the former Deutsche Bank building was declared operational today, fire officials said.

The fire department and buildings department both signed off on the repairs to the standpipe today, more than three weeks after the fire, and declared the standpipe fully operational for fighting fires in the upper floors of the 26-story building.

Fire marshals found the standpipe had been dismantled following a seven-alarm blaze at the building on August 18.

Pieces of the pipe were sent to an FBI laboratory to determine if they had been purposely dismantled, or if they had blown apart under pressure when the pipe was turned on. The results of that analysis have yet to be released.

The building is being dismantled after it was damaged and showered with contaminated debris when the World Trade Center collapsed nearby on September 11, 2001.

After the fire last month, the fire department has required that the Lower

Manhattan Development Corporation, the building's owner, make changes to improve fire safety there. Fire officials said today that all of those changes have been completed.