From NY1:Starting next week, the New York City Fire Department is set to reduce the number of fire units that respond to certain types of emergencies with lights flashing and sirens blaring. The three-month pilot program, known as "Modified Response," will be tested at fire companies all over Queens.
"The history of the department's response with the lights and sirens is that firefighters are responding to a serious emergency," says Uniformed Firefighters Association President Stephen Cassidy. "Until somebody actually gets there, it is difficult to determine the extent of that emergency."
FDNY officials say not all emergencies require the same response. They are testing to see the impact of reducing the use of lights and sirens for the second and third engine companies heading to emergency calls that are not fires, like a gas leak or a stuck elevator.
The first responding unit will still respond with lights and sirens, but those that follow will do so at a reduced speed.
The FDNY believes the program will lead to fewer accidents and less noise.
The firefighters' union, however, says the plan is confusing and could lead to more accidents, not fewer.
The NY Times has an in-depth article.
22 comments:
What dolt came up with this?
Why change the current setup? Leave the NYFD alone - it works well serving us, why change it now?
This plan has serious implications for Queens which is far fewer FD units per square mile than other buroughs, save Staten Island.
It already takes 2nd and 3rd due units a relatively long time to arrive at calls because they have to traverse long distances (one or two neighborhoods from their respective firehouses.) It will now take them even longer to get to distant calls because they will have initially started out stopping at lights and signs.
Civilians and the 1st due FD units initially operating alone for longer periods of time will likely get hurt as a result of this new policy. The City is trading one kind of liability exposure for another.
wow, the city is doing more to jeopardize the safety of it's citizens once again. first they close firehouses now this...If anyone in control of the city was smart, they'd know that every call should be handeledd as an emergency, and until it can be confirmed or denied, that is the way all fire companies should respond.
Look to see 16 to 20 FD units eliminated next year, including a few in Queens. Not firehouses, because that's politically unpalatable, but a reduction from 2 units (1 laddder truck and 1 engine)in a firehouse to a single engine or truck.
Bloomy thinks the public are morons and won't complain if they see that a physical firehouse is still open though it's capabilites would have been cut in half.
This is only the start...this is a pilot program in Queens for 3 Months...we all know that no matter what happens it will be excepted. Then they will do it in all the boro's, that will go in for a year or so, then they will say, look..these 2nd due units never made it in the the emergency so lets just stop them all together. Then after that comes the best, the city will look at its stats, see reduced runs and then say they can eliminate fire companies. What hurts is the FF's in those first due companies are going to knock themselves out to get the job done and then get kicked in the you know what in the end by the city. Oh and by the way, correct me if I'm wrong, but have they ever closed a POLICE PCT during any money crisis that NYC has Had, I don't think so.
This idea is plain stupid and dangerous to the residents of Queens.
I think that you're right, Yocap, just so long as the city wants this pilot program to "succeed" they they will fudge the numbers as much as necessary to "prove" that it works.
And believe me, they know how to fudge the numbers...a few years back when they wanted to remove alarm boxes the said showed stats that there had been a dramatic drop in the false alarm category...well it seems that they created another radio code for reporting, companies would use code 92 for a false alarm i.e. arrive at scene and find PD with nothing happening would be a false alarm, but now its a code 91. So, when they released the stats for FALSE ALARMS it looked as if they went down....they can come up with strange things when they want to...
BLOOMBERG & COMPANY TO CITY DWELLERS: "FUCK YOU!!!!"
Good, THANK GOD. Living in otherwise quite Bayside, the fire engines create constant noise and anxiety with the sirens. I have lived in the same place for the past 10 years or so, and have not yet heard of a single fire. Thjis is a quality of life issue, and the constantly race back and forth with the sirens wailing. Its about time somebody is ready to do something about it.
Good, THANK GOD. Living in otherwise quite Bayside, the fire engines create constant noise and anxiety with the sirens. I have lived in the same place for the past 10 years or so, and have not yet heard of a single fire. Thjis is a quality of life issue, and the constantly race back and forth with the sirens wailing. Its about time somebody is ready to do something about it.
Really "Anonymous" from Bayside?
Are you serious? Maybe you should leave your house once in a while, maybe follow them to see what they're doing.
Last year, your local firehouse (Engine 306 since you say Bayside) did the following, and these are official stats from the city:
1,842 runs (this is how many times they went out the door)
418 of these were medical emergencies from your friends and neighbors where E306 arrived minutes before an ambulance would have and a number of these they would have began CPR and saved lives.
Of the total amount of runs, E306 operated at 1,200 of them, meaning they either put out a fire, extricated people from a car accident, investigated smoke conditions, or CO alarms, etc.
Of the 1,200 times they operated, ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN were fires in Occupied Buildings.
Have some facts next time you complain, or just keep your mouth shut. Maybe they'll shut their sirens off on the way to YOUR house and give you some peace and quiet.
If you moved to NYC and can't stand the noise, go the F*ck home.
Awww, siren anxiety. Sounds like someone should have stayed in Kansas.
Quality of Life Issue? Yes, lets get rid of fire engines all together so you can live in peace. Sounds like you made a bad choice 10 years ago.
Keep voting for the same politicians......first they cut the pd,now fd.Next will be garbage pick-ups once a week.
I can't believe someone would actually complain about EMERGENCY SIRENS being too loud......Yrs back some firehouse's would add certain equipment to the rigs, one company in Lower Manhatan had aquired a new AIR HORN...not department issue, one of the neighbors complained and went and got a noise meter...well, when they hit the horn in front of quarters it broke his meter and almost knocked him on his backside...ah, the Old Days.
All i can say is that I live in Auburndale, and the sirens from the fire trucks are CONSTANT. If there are that many fires in this area, there is a very serious problem. This is a nice quiet neighborhood, except for the fire trucks! They race up and back like crazy, all the while with the sirens screaming. This is TRULY a quality of life issue. The reasons for racing around constantly can't possibly be true emergencies, like houses burning down. Believe me, I support the fire men and the fire department, but they are making a nice neighborhood a hell hole!
Funny. I remember a few years ago when the house next door to the fire dept. in college point burned down. Right next door!
"BLOOMBERG & COMPANY TO CITY DWELLERS: "FUCK YOU!!!!""
CITY DWELLERS TO BLOOMBERG & COMPANY: "FUCK YOU!!!!"
What about the private ambulances? Rosen has his guys flashing and screaching even when empty to generate customers. I've seen them walk out of delis and casually turn on the noise.
Totally Agree here and glad for the test. I live next door to a fire station and hear the trucks constantly. I certainly appreciate the work they do, but cannot imagine there are 5-6 fires every day.
Post a Comment