Firefighters and cops are taking longer to respond to the public’s emergency calls for help – and more people are dying in fires, a report by City Hall revealed.
Fire engines took an average 4 minutes and 25 seconds to show up at infernos during the first four months of the 2004 fiscal year, which ran from July through October 2003, a preliminary mayor’s management report showed.
That’s 11 precious seconds longer than it took during the first four months of fiscal 2003.
The number of New Yorkers who died in blazes jumped from 18 to 29 during the respective four-month periods, the report stated.
It also took firefighters and EMS crews an extra 15 seconds to respond to medical emergencies citywide, reaching patients in an average 6 minutes, 8 seconds.
FDNY brass blame the longer response time on the August 2003 blackout, but union officials say the more likely cause is the May 2003 shuttering of six firehouses. Steve Cassidy, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, called the blackout excuse “an outright lie.”
“They had 1,000 extra firefighters on duty during the blackout,” he said.
Cops took an extra 24 seconds to respond to reports of crimes in progress, showing up after an average 8 minutes and 6 seconds during the first four months of fiscal 2004, compared to the same time period the previous year.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne declined comment.