Max
10-25-2003, 05:50 PM
State To Spend $1 Million On Chicago Fire Probe
Saturday Oct. 25, 2003, 5:30 p.m.
By MEGAN REICHGOTT
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appointment of James Lee Witt to investigate a lethal blaze at the Cook County Administration Building is worth its estimated $1 million price tag, a spokeswoman for the governor said Saturday.
"It's not a million dollars spent on the cause of just one fire," said spokeswoman Angelynne Amores. "It's an investment into what we need to do in the future so this won't happen in Peoria, in Rockford, all over the state."
Blagojevich appointed Witt Thursday to investigate the Oct. 17 high-rise fire in which six people died. Witt's job is to determine what happened and why by reviewing existing codes, evacuation procedures and rescue efforts, Blagojevich said.
Witt, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, estimated Friday that his investigation could take up to six months and cost "in the million-dollar range."
"It's very similar to some reviews we've done in the past and hopefully, that we can do this very fast without adding enormous cost to the taxpayers," Witt said.
At FEMA, Witt oversaw the aftermath of floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, and led the agency's response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Witt also serves on a council that develops codes used to build residential and commercial buildings across the country, Blagojevich said.
But Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, who lost three employees in the fire, said that Witt's investigation won't have the right focus.
"We all know what went wrong (during the fire)," Murphy said. "Witt doesn't have the authority or the ability to get to the real issue. There was a substantial amount of money poured into that building, in rehab and management -- where did that money go? No one wants anyone to point fingers because they're all in a slimy bucket together."
Meanwhile, people that made it out of the building began to talk about their ordeals.
Thirty-three-year old Mike Cafferty was working as an attorney in the public guardian's office when the fire broke out. Cafferty, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident when he was 18 and is now a quadriplegic, told the Chicago Tribune that he'd been told in the event of a fire to get into a stairwell and wait for firefighters.
"That was the plan. I'm glad we didn't stick to the plan," he said.
Instead, Cafferty and co-workers on the 18th-floor used an elevator to leave the when they smelled smoke.
Others talked about trying to leave through stairwells filled with thick black smoke and doors that were locked.
"The smoke started getting heavier and people started banging on doors and screaming 'Let me in! Let me in!' I started to get angry, very angry," Adrienne Mebane, chief of staff for Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine, told the Tribune. "I was angry that there hadn't been some sort of communication so that we could get out of there. Nobody had a plan."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Saturday Oct. 25, 2003, 5:30 p.m.
By MEGAN REICHGOTT
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appointment of James Lee Witt to investigate a lethal blaze at the Cook County Administration Building is worth its estimated $1 million price tag, a spokeswoman for the governor said Saturday.
"It's not a million dollars spent on the cause of just one fire," said spokeswoman Angelynne Amores. "It's an investment into what we need to do in the future so this won't happen in Peoria, in Rockford, all over the state."
Blagojevich appointed Witt Thursday to investigate the Oct. 17 high-rise fire in which six people died. Witt's job is to determine what happened and why by reviewing existing codes, evacuation procedures and rescue efforts, Blagojevich said.
Witt, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, estimated Friday that his investigation could take up to six months and cost "in the million-dollar range."
"It's very similar to some reviews we've done in the past and hopefully, that we can do this very fast without adding enormous cost to the taxpayers," Witt said.
At FEMA, Witt oversaw the aftermath of floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, and led the agency's response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Witt also serves on a council that develops codes used to build residential and commercial buildings across the country, Blagojevich said.
But Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, who lost three employees in the fire, said that Witt's investigation won't have the right focus.
"We all know what went wrong (during the fire)," Murphy said. "Witt doesn't have the authority or the ability to get to the real issue. There was a substantial amount of money poured into that building, in rehab and management -- where did that money go? No one wants anyone to point fingers because they're all in a slimy bucket together."
Meanwhile, people that made it out of the building began to talk about their ordeals.
Thirty-three-year old Mike Cafferty was working as an attorney in the public guardian's office when the fire broke out. Cafferty, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident when he was 18 and is now a quadriplegic, told the Chicago Tribune that he'd been told in the event of a fire to get into a stairwell and wait for firefighters.
"That was the plan. I'm glad we didn't stick to the plan," he said.
Instead, Cafferty and co-workers on the 18th-floor used an elevator to leave the when they smelled smoke.
Others talked about trying to leave through stairwells filled with thick black smoke and doors that were locked.
"The smoke started getting heavier and people started banging on doors and screaming 'Let me in! Let me in!' I started to get angry, very angry," Adrienne Mebane, chief of staff for Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine, told the Tribune. "I was angry that there hadn't been some sort of communication so that we could get out of there. Nobody had a plan."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)