An investigation by the New York Department of Labor cites a series of failures by the Tarrytown Fire Department in the death of a firefighter and a public works foreman in September, according to The Journal News.
Firefighter John Kelly died on Sept. 6 after going down into a 20-foot-deep manhole to rescue Public Works foreman Anthony Ruggiero after he collapsed.
Both men were later pronounced dead due to asphyxiation from low oxygen levels.
The report released by the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau on Thursday found the village failed to provide necessary training, programs and policies for workers when it knew it was required by law.
Tarrytown was cited for four "willful" and/or "serious" violations.
Village Administrator Michael Blau told the newspaper that the report is being reviewed and it intends to be in compliance with the violations within the timeframe established.
The village has until Feb. 22 to address the violations and can be fined $200 a day per violation if it fails to do so.
The 24-page investigation found workers entered permit-required confined spaces they were not authorized nor trained to go into.
The village was cited for not communicating to employees that they could not enter the confined spaces and also failed to implement written confined spaces and respirator programs and failed to provide written certifications for hazardous jobs, according to the newspaper.
The report also found that two more firefighters were allowed to attempt a rescue of Kelly and Ruggiero while using the wrong equipment.
"We're hopefully that these set of circumstances will serve as a nice reminder and a good wake-up call to all the localities to take a long, hard look at their plans," Maureen Cox, director of the New York Division of Safety and Health, told the newspaper. "(They must) make sure that their plans are living documents and not just pieces of paper that are up on a shelf that nobody is really paying attention to."
