The FDNY Monday
hailed a
record-breaking 2009
- a year with the
fewest number of
fires and fire
deaths in city
history.
The department also
achieved its fastest
yearly average
response time to
building fires -
just four minutes
and two seconds,
Mayor Bloomberg
boasted.
Bloomberg, moments
after he officially
swore in the FDNY's
new commissioner,
Salvatore Cassano,
said, "2009 was a
year for the history
books, and we're
going to do
everything we can to
keep improving in
the new year."
Seventy-three people
died in fires across
the five boroughs
last year, the
lowest number in
recorded history,
according to FDNY
statistics.
The previous low,
77, was in 1919,
when the city
population was a
third less than it
is today. There were
86 fire fatalities
in 2008.
Bloomberg and
Cassano gave credit
for the drop to a
revamped dispatching
protocol and the
controversial new
Unified Call Taker
911 system.
"The system works,
period," Bloomberg
said of the 911
system, which has
been criticized by
fire unions for
putting NYPD
dispatchers in
charge of FDNY
calls. "The numbers
back it up."
The number of
serious fires -
blazes that reach
one alarm or higher
- dropped from 2,715
in 2008 to 2,485
last year, according
to the FDNY.
Cassano credited the
FDNY's fire
prevention program
for the drop, citing
the department's
outreach into poor
neighborhoods to
share safety tips in
10 languages.
A new program
stepping up
inspections of
buildings at greater
risk of fire will
begin this year and
should help prevent
blazes, Cassano
said.
"My priority as
commissioner will be
to ensure the safety
of the public and
firefighters,"
Cassano said, "and
you can rest assured
I won't screw it
up."
jlemire@nydailynews.com
