Probers focusing on ladder swaying
FIREFIGHTER William Tolley’s fatal five-story plunge may have been caused when his tower ladder hit a Queens building, causing the ladder to sway as he stepped onto the building’s roof, an FDNY source with knowledge of the investigation said Friday.
The ladder may have either gotten caught against the facade, then dislodged, or scraped against the building on Putnam Ave. in Ridgewood right before the 42-year-old firefighter fell.
“This is a tragedy,” said the source.
It is one of several theories a special team of FDNY safety specialists and fire marshals will be reviewing as they investigate Tolley’s death.
It may be six weeks before it’s officially known how Tolley died, sources said.
The probe will include interviews, review of radio transmissions, audio and video recordings, as well as an inspection of the ladder truck and equipment.
“I have a thousand questions,” Tolley’s stepfather Frank DeCillis, 70, told the Daily News on Friday.
Tolley was stepping from the tower ladder’s bucket onto the roof when the ladder suddenly swayed, causing the 14-year veteran to fall.
“It looks like it shifted a bit,” said one retired firefighter who now works for NY Fire Consultants, which teaches fire safety preparedness classes to building managers. “It happens quite a lot, actually. But at that particular second there was a misstep and he lost his balance.”
The city medical examiner ruled Tolley’s death an accident Friday.
The second-floor fire was sparked by burning incense, city fire marshals determined.
“Compounding the tragic loss of Firefighter Tolley’s life is that the fire he responded to and fought bravely could have been prevented,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.