New York City Fire Department

The New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) has the responsibility of protecting citizens and property in New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, as well as first response to biological, chemical and radioactive hazards.

FDNY is the largest municipal fire Department in the United States with 16,000 personnel and faces an extraordinarily varied challenge. In addition to responding to building types that range from wood frame to high-rise, there are the many bridges and tunnels needed to move a large commuter population into and out of the city as well as the largest subway system in the US. These challenges add yet another level of firefighting complexity. Old wiring in subway tunnels (as well as in older buildings) is occasionally the cause of fires. A scarcity of water for drinking and fighting fires ultimately resulted in the transition of Brooklyn from separate city into a borough of NYC. The city, by then had developed a vast up-state feeder system to slake the growing city's thirst.

Ideology

The FDNY ideology of aggressive fire attack grew naturally out of the building and population density that characterize the city. It is this time honored tradition that saves countless lives every year.

The contribution of Irish Americans to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) is legendary, dating back to the formation of the professional department. During the Civil War New York's Irish firefighters were the backbone of a much decorated unit, The Zouaves.

In addition to firefighting, rescue and HAZMAT, FDNY stations ambulances throughout the city and supplies paramedics and EMTs. Together with ambulances run by certain participating hospitals and private companies, it is known as the FDNY EMS Command, which is the largest prehospital care provider in the world, responding to over 1.3 million calls each year. All of the FDNY EMS Command members are also trained in HAZMAT operations, allowing them to provide emergency medical care and decontamination in a hazardous environment, in addition to normal 911 duties.

Members of the FDNY have the nickname "New York's Bravest".

CORE COMPETENCIES Fire Suppression

Search and Rescue

Structural Evacuation

CBRN / Haz-Mat Life Safety and Mass Decontamination

Arson Investigation (Cause and Origin)

Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Care

Fire calls: 2005

For the period 1 January 2005, to 31 December 2005 the FDNY dealt with the following number of calls^*:

Structural fires: 28,455
Non-structural fires: 22,940
Non-fire emergencies: 199,643
Medical emergencies: 202,526
Malicious false alarms: 32,138

There were 3,362 serious fires in 2005, defined as those declared 'all hands' or above in severity, response times to incidents were roughly between four and a half, and five and a half minutes from the time of call.

Company assignments

Each company has slots for 1 Captain, 3 Lieutenants, and 25 firefighters, although each company may not carry a full roster.

How incidents are received and transmitted

There are three main ways to notify the central offices (dispatch) of an incident within the city. The most common, a telephone alarm, or report via telephone. Second most common, but most often malicious false alarms, the ERS (Emergency Reporting System) alarm. This type is sent via a pull box on the street, and replaced the earlier BARS system. The third way is to report a verbal alarm via a walk in to the communications office, or by reporting it to a unit in the field. When you dial 911 you speak with an NYPD call taker. He/She assigns the call to where it needs to go; based on the information he or she gets from the interrogation. If it is police related, it is transferred to another NYPD dispatcher. If it is on a Bridge or in a Port/Body of water, the Port Authority of NY and NJ is notified. If it is a fire, hazmat, or rescue incident, the FDNY gets it. The FDNY also answers a few EMS calls, all others go to the FDNY EMS central office. The initial call to the communications office is usually taken by the Alarm Receipt Dispatcher, or "ARD" as they conduct the interrogation, and speak with the caller. They enter the information into the Starfire computer system, which; based on the information, gives a recommended response. This information is transferred to the Decision Dispatcher, or "DD" who decides what units will be assigned to the incident. When the DD is done, the information is finally transferred to the supervisor who checks the information to make any changes, and it is also passed to the voice alarm and radio in/ radio out dispatchers who transmit the call via radio and voice alarm to the units. The voice alarm dispatcher announces the call over the voice alarm, while the radio in dispatcher inputs information into the CAD. The radio out dispatcher does the talking. All of this happens in about 25-30 seconds. Each address in the city is assigned a box number, based on the closest ERS or "dummy" box. This just gives the company’s en route the information on where to go. Rather than say "Respond to a telephone alarm at 123 Fake St.", the units get assigned to a box # - "Respond to telephone alarm, box: 1234." The companies responding get the address and box number over the air, and via their Mobile Data Terminals or MDT's in the cab of their unit. With all the radio traffic clogging the NYC fire frequencies, the box system saves time, and shortens the duration of radio transitions.

Critical Information Dispatch System

If you listen to FDNY dispatch you no doubt have heard the dispatcher say something about "SIDS" (CIDS). CIDS stands for Critical Information Dispatch System. This is information that is collected on a building, during inspections, that may impact fire fighting operations. Such things as warehoused apartments, type and length of line stretch, number of apartments per floor, unsafe conditions, standpipe conditions, and anything else the company deems important. This information is printed on the run ticket and can be read by the dispatcher if requested. This information is also read automatically when a signal 10-75 (working fire) is given or when, due to the number and quality of calls, the dispatcher believes a 10-75 will be given on arrival.

Ranks of the FDNY

Title	Insignia
Chief of Department
Chief of Operations
Assistant Chief
Deputy Assistant Chief
Division Commander
Deputy Chief
Battalion Chief
Battalion Commander
Captain
Lieutenant
Firefighter

Organization

FDNY Organizational Chart

Executive Staff

Office of the Fire Commissioner -Nicholas Scoppetta
- First Deputy Commissioner - Frank Cruthers
- Deputy Commissioner, Intergovernmental Affairs & Management Initiatives - Daniel Shacknai
- Deputy Commissioner, Public Information - Frank Gribbon
- Deputy Commissioner, Administration - Douglas White
- Deputy Commissioner, Legal Affairs - Mylan Denerstein
- Deputy Commissioner, Technology & Support - Milton Fischberger
- Assistant Commissioner, Budget & Finance - Stephen Rush
- Assistant Commissioner, EEO - Paulette Lundy
- Chief Fire Marshal/Fire Investigations - Louis Garcia
Chief of Department - Salvadore J. Cassano
- Assistant Commissioner, Communications - Stephen Gregory
- Chief of Fire Operations - Patrick McNally
  - Chief of EMS - John Peruggia
  - Assistant Chief of Operations - AC Michael Weinlein
  - Deputy Assistant Chief for Counterrorism/Emergency Preparedness - AC Joseph Pfeifer
  - Deputy Assistant Chief for Operations Staffing - AC Joseph Ramos
  - Deputy Assistant Chief for the Special Operations Command - AC John Norman
  - Deputy Assistant Chief - AC John Coloe
  - Deputy Assistant Chief for Planning & Strategy - DC James Manahan
- Chief of Fire Prevention - AC Howard J. Hill
- Chief of Training, Education & Curriculum Development - AC Thomas Galvin

Bureau of Operations

Manhattan Boro - AC Harold Meyers
Staten Island Boro - AC Thomas Haring
Brooklyn Boro - AC Edward Kilduff
Queens Boro - AC Robert Sweeney
Bronx Boro - DAC James Esposito (Acting)

- Division 1
- Division 2(disbanded)
- Division 3
- Division 4(disbanded)
- Division 5(disbanded)
- Division 6
- Division 7
- Division 8
- Division 9(disbanded)
- Division 10(disbanded)
- Division 11
- Division 12(disbanded)
- Division 13
- Division 14
- Division 15
- Marine Division
- Safety

Emergency Medical Service

The provision of emergency medical services in New York City is the largest public-nonprofit ambulance partnership in the world. Although EMS is controlled and dispatched by the Fire Department, approximately half of the emergency 911 ambulances in the system are provided by the dozens of non-profit hospitals in New York City. Although some hospitals have provided emergency ambulances for over 125 years, since the 1990's, dozens of hospitals have joined the 911 system, with many subcontracting actual ambulance operations to a private ambulance provider. Care is provided at three distinct levels: Certified First Responder engine companies, staffed by firefighters providing first aid, CPR, and defibrillation; Emergency Medical Technicians-level (EMT) ambulances, whose 2 EMTs provide first aid, defibrillation, and limited medication administration; and Paramedic ambulances, whose 2 paramedics provide critical care. Each level of response is divided into overlapping grids, with the closest FDNY first responder engine company responding to life-threatening emergencies, and the appropriate level of ambulance responding.

FDNY's EMS workers are not firefighters, but civilian employees with "uniformed status" (which is currently the subject of litigation.) They do not have the same salary, benefits, or pension as firefighters.

NYC EMS was originally operated by the city's Health & Hospitals Corporation and was not a part of the Fire Department. The NYC EMS was administratively taken over by FDNY on March 17, 1996. NYC EMS falls under the Chief of EMS who reports to the Chief of Fire Operations.

Chief of EMS

Assistant Chief of EMS -
Assistant Chief of EMS Field Services
EMS Division 1
EMS Division 2
EMS Division 3
EMS Division 4
EMS Division 5
EMS Operations Covering Division

The Bronx is Burning

The FDNY was the subject of a 1972 documentary Man Alive: The Bronx is Burning, for BBC Television - it was screened in the UK on 27 September 1972 ^* and followed firefighters from a fire house in the South Bronx: Battalion 27, Ladder 31 and Engine 82. It chronicled the appalling conditions the firefighters worked in with roughly one emergency call per hour, and the high rates of arson and malicious calls.

The documentary focused heavily on firefighter Dennis Smith who served in the South Bronx area - he went on to write Report from Engine Co 82^* and a number of other books. The documentary reported that he sold the film rights to the book. He has become a prominent speaker on firefighting policy.