MAGGIE HABERMAN
New York Post Online
December 16, 2001 -- Complaints from firefighters worried about contamination have prompted the FDNY to hire professional cleaners to scour scores of trucks that were near ground zero when the Twin Towers fell.
For more than three months, firefighters have been driving around in almost 200 vehicles that may have been laced with dangerous dust and debris.
The cleaning was prompted by complaints from firefighters - which grew stronger after health officials' recently said roughly 900 cars towed from ground zero should be condemned because of chemical contamination.
Fire union leaders said some trucks had hosed down by individual ladder companies, but not professionally cleaned. They said trade center dust lodged in some air vents.
"You would hit a bump and you would get dust flying everywhere," said Tom Manley, health and safety officer for the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon said the agency was receptive to the concerns. But in the first weeks after Sept. 11, their immediate concern was ensuring the safety of those working at the site.
He said officials acted after two rigs tested positive for asbestos traces.
A private New Jersey firm yesterday began cleaning the first batch, using a high-powered vacuum technique, at about $500 a vehicle, Gribbon said.
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