The NYPD has warned officers to take the stairs instead of elevators when responding to high-rise fires in the wake of a Brooklyn blaze that killed one cop and critically injured another.
The Police Department amended a portion of its “Response to Fires” protocol on Thursday afternoon to include the new directive when officers enter buildings engulfed in flames, according to Deputy Chief Kim Royster.
But Royster stressed that the change is “preliminary” and came after NYPD brass consulted with top FDNY officials on the matter.
She gave no time frame for when the final protocol would be put in place.
Officer Dennis Guerra and his partner, Rosa Rodriguez, were responding to an arson fire in a Coney Island housing project on April 6 when they rode an elevator to the 13th floor and were overcome by smoke.
Guerra, 38, later died from his injuries. Rodriguez, 36, is still recovering.
Police arrested 16-year-old Marcell Dockery, who told cops that he set the blaze because he was “bored.”
Dockery, who was photographed grinning following his arrest, was hit with a slew of charges, including murder.