CBS 2

The FDNY commissioned the 176-page report, citing a laundry list of problems.

The building was damaged on 9/11, and had begun being dismantled last August. Then on Aug. 18, 2007, it erupted into a smoky fire from careless smoking, turning it into a fire department's nightmare, partly because workers on site delayed calling 911.

"For 13 minutes, the fire was not reported to us," said FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta.

To complicate matters, in the fire that claimed the lives of two firefighters, Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino Jr., who died of smoke inhalation, it took more than an hour to get water onto the fire. A faulty standpipe, 40 feet of it, had been removed in the basement.

Yet, when fire companies first arrived, they were told otherwise.

"Three different sources came to us with misinformation to say the standpipe was working," Scoppetta said.

Those broken standpipes should have been spotted, but local fire companies failed to conduct regular inspections.

Further, the building did not have a formal demolition permit. Instead it had a less stringent "alteration permit," which the Manhattan District Attorney is investigating. Also, there were more than 30 crucial radio transmissions that were not heard.

"Nineteen urgents and 14 maydays," Scoppetta said.

Joseph Graffagnino Sr. told CBS 2 the problems created chaos on the radios.

"From what I understand there was over 200 firemen in the building and there was like multiple maydays and urgent calls going on at the same time, it was difficult to discern one voice from another," he said. "Nobody really knows who was speaking in those maydays because as they were speaking they were getting stepped on."

In addition to the communications breakdowns, sprinklers didn't work, and some stairwells were sealed off.

For months, the Manhattan District Attorney has been presenting evidence to a grand jury, which could result in criminal charges against the city.