A bizarre, and desperately sad, story from the site of the former WTC from Ananova tonight reminds us, if it's necessary, that the agony continues in NYC:

Firefighters storm Ground Zero as rescue work scaled down

Thousands of New York firefighters stormed Ground Zero and clashed with police. They were protesting against the scaling down of rescue work on the site.

Several firefighters were arrested as they protested against the move to cut numbers working on the operation to just 24. At the height of rescue efforts, up to 2,500 firefighters were deployed at Ground Zero.

Demonstrators seized cranes used by construction workers and turned them into podiums as they spoke out against the move, which has also seen the number of police working on the site slashed to 24.

Later, they marched on City Hall in an attempt to take the message direct to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, but were blocked by a wall of police, some wearing riot gear.

Kevin Gallagher, president of the United Firefighters Association, told the crowd that numbers must be increased to allow the bodies of their colleagues to be rescued.

Brooklyn Trustee for the Uniformed Firefighters Association Matty James has called the move to slash numbers "disgusting", saying this week alone the bodies of 12 firefighters were pulled from the wreckage. "The city may be ready to turn this into a construction job, but we're not. We want to our brothers back" he said.

Officials say the site is unsafe and risky recovery operations under unstable rubble could lead to more deaths. They are trying to introduce a more tightly controlled operation.
Story filed: 18:40 Friday 2nd November 2001

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001

Answers

The agony persists.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001

You're right, that is desperately sad. Suppose if you look at it less emotionally though, it seems to be a bit of waste of resources to have 2500 firemen working on what is effectively a graveyard not a rescue site. I would imagine those kind of numbers would surely stretch the cities resources - who's putting out new fires? Good to see Kevin Gallacher has found gainful employment though....

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001

Footage of the protests was on the news tonight. Apparently 11 firemen were arrested after punching cops. The emotion and brotherhood displayed by these guys is unreal, no doubt heightened by the physical and mental exhaustion they must be feeling after enduring weeks of seeing horrors no human should have to witness. I would hope that whoever is guiding the construction workers will be watching to make sure the rubble is sifted and removed with care, aware of how many bodies are still in there. But the city also has a point in that the rubble is dangerous so don't want to risk losing still more lives. Maybe it's also better for the firemen if they do start to move on by going back to normal duties as much as possible? Such a sad and difficult situation.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001

I'm sure the underlying rationale is sound. However, this was clearly a situation needing to be handled with extreme sensitivity, and it appears to have been badly bungled.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

There couldn't be a more telling memorial than to leave it just as it is now and declare it a sort of war grave, like they did in Hawaii with the Arizona.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

I'm sure they will establish a lasting, meaningful memorial PB. However, the area involved is simply enormous - possibly a half mile square, and of course is at the very heart of Manhattan's commercial centre.

I feel sure they will rebuild the Centre in a massive gesture of defiance and regeneration.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

There's a story in the papers today (Telegraph) that the UK govt are thinking of giving the Millenium Dome to cover up the Twin Towers so they can work under the cover when the winter sets in. I don't know what to make of that one.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

Sounds unlikely, Barry. For a start, I don't think that the UK government actually own the dome.

By the way, how are the Kinnock reforms progressing?

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001