The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 5

Rockland Journal-News World Trade Center Explosion Saturday, February 27, 1993 A5 olice desk 'wiped out' local man says in blast, By Alan Rittner Staff Writer When the explosion went off, Jeffrey Green thought the World Trade Center had been struck by lightning. "There was a flash of light at around, 12:15, 12:20, and right after that, there was a loud noise and then a rumble, almost like an aftershock," the Pearl River resident said. "It's not uncommon to see lightning and then hear a loud bang." Green, general counsel for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was on the 67th floor of 1 World Trade Center when he heard the blast. He said about half the lights went off and all communication went out. He and his co-workers traveled down to the 49th floor, then the 48th, carrying one of their executives who uses a wheelchair.

They were trapped in the building for probably about two hours while acrid-smelling smoke billowed up the stairwells. "The bomb was either luckily or strategically placed, because it wiped out all the electrical systems, communications systems and backup systems," he said. "The police desk at the World Trade Center was of the building by about 2:30 or 3 p.m. "I thought the New York City Police, the Port Authority Police, the New York City Fire Department and New York City EMS did a spectacular job in terms of talking to people, helping people down to the extent they needed to and taking care of the handicapped and aged," he said. "If you think about evacuating 50,000 people on foot with no communication, it's going to take two or three hours." Green stuck around until about 9:30 or 10:00 p.m.

talking to people and meeting with officials. He especially praised the work of Director of World Trade Department Charles Maikish, a New City resident, and Management and Budget Department Director John Collura of Air-mont. Green's car was in the basement where the blast originated and was destroyed with the thousands of other parked cars. He got a ride to the George Washington Bridge, where his wife brought him home. But today, Green expects to be back in the city discussing a plan of action with his colleagues.

No rest for the weary. Rockland's skyscraper inspected By James Walsh Staff Writer PEARL RIVER As an explosion rocked the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, security and fire officials were inspecting emergency equipment at Rockland's only skyscraper Blue Hill Plaza. The two-building complex, one 22-floors and the other, nine floors, has a fire evacuation plan filed with the Town of Orange-town. Drills and inspections are regularly done in the office buildings, Orangetown Fire Inspector Cliff Parker says. Between 10 a.m.

and 1 p.m., yesterday, a floor-by-floor inspection was done of the tower building's communication system. Speakers were tested to ensure that if there were a fire, security and fire personnel could talk to everyone in the building, Parker said. A fire drill is scheduled there at, the end of March. It will be one of three annual drills at Blue Hill, which is required by law to hold at least two each year, Pearl River F'yce Chief Michael Baker said. A fire safety plan filed with the town by Blue Hill management estimates that 1,500 people are in the tower during the day, including 250 visitors.

There are 300 people in the smaller building. The tower is equipped with sprinklers except for the first floor, which is unoccupied. Since it was built in 1969, sprinklers have been installed as space was rented, Parker said. In the smaller building, only the ground floor, the concourse and the top floor have full sprinkler protection. Some partial systems have been installed by tenants on the other floors, Parker said.

There have been no serious fires in either building. Each tenant of the complex has appointed a fire warden and at least two deputy wardens. Their responsibility is to pinpoint the Expert: Smoke is most deadly wiped out." Yet despite the heat and smoke and the obvious cause for alarm, the group remained calm. "The condition of the people was terrific; no one panicked and no one got hysterical," Green said. "People just sat around and talked." Information was obviously scarce.

Green said some telephone lines were open and a few people tried call GREEN: Port Authority general counsel ing airports and the Journal Square Transportation Center in New Jersey. Others listened to the news on portable radios; Green said most of their information came from the media. Eventually, fire and police officials arrived, helped the handicapped and escorted them out of the building. Green said a couple of flashlights helped guide them down, with the evacuees going in groups and looking out for each other. Green wasn't looking at his watch, but he estimated he was out the victim, said Dr.

Stephen Meni-tove, a West Nyack pulmonary specialist. More common, though, is routine smoke exposure that irritates the lung lining, causing a buildup of fluid in lungs that can lead to shortness of breath. Sometimes, the exposure sends lungs into spasms. "People wheeze. They can't breathe.

It's like asthma attack," said Dr. Robert Siebkin, a Nanuet pulmonary specialist. "And it can kill you." Treatment usually starts with inhaling oxygen, taking the strain off an oxygen-deprived heart and reducing the danger of heart attack. Spasms are treated with inhalants to relax tense lung muscles, a treatment similar to dealing with Can New By Len Maniace Staff Writer Flames leaping from a building may look more frightening, but it's the smoke that's more likely to injure and kill. And smoke has become more deadly in recent decades, adding to the potential hazard faced by workers and firefighters at the World Trade Center yesterday.

"More of the contents are made of plastics and synthetics than 25 to 30 years ago," said Rockland County Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. "It's a double-edge sword: the heat is much hotter and the smoke that's generated is much deadlier." Burning plastics produce toxic substances that may pass from the lungs and to bloodstream, poisoning Getting out of area posed a problem for commuters mm fit 11! li II lb i. II tl I i File photo skyscraper houses 1,500 people to its Pearl River site. for evacuating the entire floor, as well as those immediately above and below it. Subsequent floors would be emptied, alternating between those higher or lower than the fire.

Enclosed stairwells at Blue Hill are designed to keep smoke from spreading throughout the building, county Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. says. Before anyone can reach a stairwell in the concrete building, Chief Baker said, they have to pass through two sets of doors. Unlike at the Twin Towers, where helicopters were used yesterday to evacuate the upper floors, helicopter landings would not be possible on the Blue Hill roof, Parker said. ty subways were running normally, although the 1 and 9 lines were not stopping at Cortlandt Street.

"We're putting out the rush-hour trains early," Transit Authority spokeswoman Caren Gardner said yesterday afternoon. "It's the quickest and most efficient way to get people out of that area." People were encouraged to take the ferries to New Jersey. The Hoboken line was running extra ferries. Trains on Metro-North Commuter Railroad were not affected by the disaster, Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said. 4 r-i -j rWfi rim-n lllUltnl i -ji-ti'nim-mu' ft I BLUE HILL PLAZA: Rockland's only during the day, including 250 visitors location of the fire for security and fire personnel and initiate an evacuation, Parker said.

Searches are planned to make sure everyone is off the evacuated floors, and help would be directed to aid people unable to use the stairs when elevator service is interrupted. A file of handicapped people unable to use the stairs is kept by the building's security department, said Baker, head of the 180-memb-er Pearl River Fire Department. When a fire occurs, he said, elevators are automatically returned to the lobby for the use of the firemen. Any handicapped people would be taken to an elevator by emergency personnel, he said. If a fire occurs, the plan calls Street were blocked off.

"It's really a frozen zone," said Joseph DePlasco, spokesman for the New York City Department of Transportation. "The big problem is primarily for those in their cars and those who take PATH to the World Trade Center." Underground, the PATH trains to and from the Trade Center were stopped, although the PATH trains to New Jersey at Christopher Street and 34th Street were operating. The Port Authority was running shuttle buses in New Jersey for those using the northern PATH terminals. The New York Transit Authori standing around and looking at each other and wondering what was going on. He also expressed a common concern about safety and evacuation at the building.

He said the stairwell acts as a chimney for the smoke, which blocks off exit routes for many and can easily disorient anyone who tries to escape through it. Thomas saw little of the on-the-scene destruction. He headed for the Hoboken ferry, where he found a line about a quarter of a mile long and waited at least 40 minutes to board. Regardless, he's going to feel a tad nervous going back. "It's pretty scary because I have to go through there every day," he said.

"When they open it up again, it's going to be a little weird going through there. Who's to say it won't happen again?" Center facts tower is 1,710 feet above street level. The towers are surrounded by the lower buildings in a plaza larger than the Piazza San Marco in Venice. The two towers have 43,600 windows between them. mil SIIlll I t-'W-r-' tAi-: I i By Elaine A.

Ellis Staff Writer Workers who escaped the smoky and dark World Trade Center yesterday after it was rocked by an explosion faced another obstacle' how to get home. Traffic was in gridlock across lower Manhattan and into Brooklyn as streets were blocked off and traffic was diverted to make way for emergency rescue vehicles. The FDR Drive was closed south of the Brooklyn Bridge, and lanes in both directions on the West Side Highway were closed. Most streets south of Chambers IN A RUSH: Passersby and workers rush from the explosion scene at the yesterday after an apparent bomb blast rocked the tower. an asthma attack.

Less common are cases of severe fluid build-up in lungs, instances that usually require hospitalization and steroids to ease the inflammation. If not not treated, the condition could lead to permanent damage, Menitove said. Sometimes smoke-exposure effects could hit 12- to 24-hours later, leaving a person short of breath or wheezing, Menitove said. If symptoms develop, patients should see their doctor or visit an emergency room, the physician said. Exposure to certain burning plastics and other synthetics can pose a risk of cancer years later, Siebkin said.

"That's one of the reasons firefighters wear respirators Siebkin said. The Associated Press World Trade Center in Manhattan York can be stashed just about anywhere that people congregate. In New York, that's quite a lot of places, every one of them a potential staging area for a terror attack. "Are we prepared for major terrorist campaign throughout U.S.?" asked Thomas Flores, director of investigations for the Corporate Response Group in Washington. "The answer, I think, is no." But how could we be? "In order to secure areas, you have to have major effort that would fundamentally change the way of our lives are lived," Flores said.

Metal detectors at every subway station? Strip searches at the Empire State Building? Bomb-sniffing dogs in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel? That and much more is what true protection would take. 011 Vain VapI ic CaiViit Despite the ease of mass destruction, big terror attacks remain relatively rare events. "Terrorism works. You can see how much publicity this one is getting," Hoffman said. Rocklander makes quick getaway guard itself from terrorist attack? Michael Thomas of Garnerville was walking through the concourse of the World Trade Center when an explosion stopped him in his tracks.

Thomas, who works for CRT Government Securities, said he was heading toward the language center upstairs. He never made it to the elevator. "I thought a plane ran into the building at first," he recalled. "The whole building shook and I just said, I'm outta Though Thomas was only a few stories above the blast, he was one of the lucky ones. He suffered no harm and simply walked out of the building.

What struck him was how generally calm the initial reaction was. 'There were a lot of people right after the explosion just standing around," he said. "People were Worid Trade The Associated Press t. The World Trade Center in lower Manhattan comprises six buildings, including the twin 110-floor towers that are New York's tallest buildings. The tip of the television I f' yK' JL Washington Post- L.A.

Times News Service NEW YORK Protect New York against attacks by terrorists? Impossible. The city is far too big. It's far too open. And it's far too full of seductive targets. Virtually all the experts agree: There's just no way to stop a smart, well-armed terror group intent of mass destruction.

"You're talking about a very simple operation," said Bruce Hoffman, who studies terrorism for the RAND Corp. "How difficult is it to put a bomb in a car, drive the car into a public parking garage, hurry away like everyone else who's trying to get out of the fetid air? You think this is hard?" "The city is completely open to a car bomb," agreed Philip Stern, managing director of the Fairfax Group, an international security-consulting company. "You can't check every car. It's not feasible. It's not economical.

You just can't do it, absent some clear and present threat." And the potential for danger surely doesn't stop with car bombs. There are suitcase bombs and storage-locker bombs and lunch-bag bombs and bombs that The Associated Press FIREFIGHTERS AT WORK: Sew York City firefighters break windows at the World Trade Center in Manhattan vesterdav..