NY TIMES 12/20/2001 City Had Been Warned of Fuel Tank at 7 World Trade Center http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3081FFC3B5A0C738EDDAB0994D9404482&incamp=archive:search
"Fire Department officials warned the city and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1998 and 1999 that a giant diesel fuel tank for the mayor's $13 million command bunker in 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story high-rise that burned and collapsed on Sept. 11, posed a hazard and was not consistent with city fire codes. The 6,000-gallon tank was positioned about 15 feet above the ground floor and near several lobby elevators and was meant to fuel generators that would supply electricity to the 23rd-floor bunker in the event of a power failure. Although the city made some design changes to address the concerns - moving a fuel pipe that would have run from the tank up an elevator shaft, for example - it left the tank in place. But the Fire Department repeatedly warned that a tank in that position could spread fumes throughout the building if it leaked, or, if it caught fire, could produce what one Fire Department memorandum called "disaster."
Joseph W. writes:
>In fact:
>What did the government do to investigate the unprecedented collapse of a
>steel frame building from fires? It gave FEMA the sole discretion to
>investigate the collapse, even though FEMA is not an investigative agency.
>
>FEMA's BPAT, the only official organization that reported on Building 7's
>collapse, was completely indecisive. Their report stated:
>
>'The specifics of the fires in WTC 7 and how they caused the building to
>collapse remain unknown at this time. Although the total diesel fuel on
>the premises contained massive potential energy, the best hypothesis has
>only a low probability of occurrence. Further research, investigation, and
>analyses are needed to resolve this issue.'
>
>The report was published in May of 2002, just after the last building
>remains had been scrubbed from Ground Zero.