DECEMBER 2005 VIEW ROM Metro Tech F P OINT 9 T HE N EWSLETTER OF THE NYC FIRE D EPARTMENT Winter Season Means Increased Fire Hazards Winter months remind New Yorkers to prevent fires and save lives inter is the busiest time of year for 50 victims, said to Dr. Roger Yurt, Director Wthe FDNY. of the Burn Center. And the Department wants that to Set in the backdrop of the Fire Zone’s change. ‘burnt apartment,’ Commissioner Scoppet- On November 30, Department officials ta warned New Yorkers to beware of com- and members of the Hearst Burn Center at mon winter fire hazards. Frayed extension New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill cords, space heaters, unattended candles Cornell Medical Center gathered at the and using stoves to heat the home account FDNY Fire Zone in Rockefeller Center to for many of the City’s most disastrous res- urge New Yorkers to avoid fire hazards this idential fires in the winter months. This winter. While citywide fire deaths are at year alone, children playing with matches historic lows, one fire-related death is one or lighters have sparked 64 fires; many of too many, said Fire Commissioner those have been deadly, he said. Nicholas Scoppetta. Following the tragic deaths of three “The recent drop in fire fatalities is a children and one adult in Queens on credit to the excellent work that the mem- December 6, after a child played with a bers of the Department do each day,” said butane lighter and ignited a plastic car Commissioner Scoppetta and Chief Fire Commissioner Scoppetta. “Our firefighters under a bunk bed, Commissioner Scoppet- Marshal Louis Garcia discuss the fatal are performing more rescues than ever ta during a separate press conference stern- Queens fire where a butane lighter was before, and our paramedics and EMTs are ly warned parents that “you might as well used by an 8-year-old child. providing the best pre-hospital care.” leave a loaded gun around for a child to According to Bureau of Fire Investiga- play with as leave [a butane lighter] in tion statistics, each year from November to reach of a child.” Top Holiday and Winter February, fire fatalities double, to an aver- He added that 33 percent of these fires Fire Safety Tips age of 11 per month, and fire-related occurred in homes with missing or mal- • If you have a real tree, keep it watered injuries can rise by more than 30 percent. functioning smoke detectors. and away from heat sources, sparks or The Burn Center also records a patient “Most of these fires are preventable,” flames. increase of more than 20 percent during he said. “A few minutes of caution will lit- • Use only UL approved lights and those months, which is equal to about 40 to erally save lives this winter.” wiring and do not overload connections. Fire officials also noted that the holiday • Never leave lit candles unattended. season brings its own set of fire hazards, • Never attempt to heat your home with IN THIS ISSUE such as dried out Christmas trees and ille- the oven (call 311 to report no heat). ❏ Commissioner’s gal holiday lights. • Use only UL approved space heaters Message Page 2 “Christmas trees can explode into and keep them away from furniture, bed- flames in a matter of seconds,” said Chief ding, curtains and other flammable materi- ❏ FDNY News Pages 3-5; Fire Marshal Louis Garcia. Trees must be als. Pages 10-11 watered regularly and kept away from heat • Do not smoke in bed. Make sure all sources, sparks and flames, said Garcia. cigarette butts are extinguished before dis- ❏ Ropes Pictorial Page 6-7 carding. He also urged individuals to buy only • Make sure you always have a proper- ❏ In the Borough Page 8-9 UL (Underwriters Laboratory) rated holi- ly working smoke detector and carbon day lights. “Don’t go cheap on your life,” ❏ monoxide detector on every level of your 2005 Admin Awards Page 12 he said. home. FDNYNEWS ViewPoint from 9 MetroTech December 2005 Addressing Concerns Regarding Seagrave ver the past year, the Fire Department has identi- whether the Department should move fied several issues with our manufacturer of fire forward with its order of an additional Oapparatus, Seagrave. Beginning in July, the 12 new tower ladders. With the changes Department held a series of meetings with Seagrave’s in Seagrave management and the addi- Commissioner’s executive management to discuss problems regarding tion of personnel, the recommendation Message delayed delivery of new apparatus and overdue mainte- of the review was to move forward with nance to the Department’s existing fleet. We worked vig- the order. orously to clearly outline our expectations and reinforced Seagrave was also recently acquired by Ballamore to the manufacturer that without improvements in their Capital Management (an investment advisor with assets service, the contractual relationship between the FDNY totaling more than $4 billion). Since this acquisition, Bal- and Seagrave would not continue. lamore has invested $10 million to improve Seagrave’s At any given time, approximately 10 percent of our operations including hiring of new mechanics and addi- fleet is offline for repairs and preventative maintenance. tional technical staff for their New Jersey location. And, although the number of offline apparatus never By our last meeting on November 22, the Department exceeded the normal level, the Department took a proac- determined that Seagrave had taken steps to correct the tive stance in engaging Seagrave to ensure that the num- problems we identified. In doing so, the number of out-of- ber of offline apparatus did not dramatically increase. service fire apparatus has been reduced from 13 to five. Currently, Seagrave supplies approximately 98 percent of Throughout the process, Seagrave has been eager to the Department’s fire apparatus. In recent months, it had work closely with us to ensure that issues are identified fallen behind in providing repairs covered under the five- and resolved in a timely manner. The meetings have been year warranty and as required under our contract. Sea- encouraging and I am satisfied with the progress that has grave also failed to deliver on-time 12 new tower ladder been made. trucks the Department ordered more than a year ago. * * * Chief of Department Peter Hayden, Deputy Commis- I would like to thank the men and women of the FDNY sioner of Technology and Support Services Milton Fis- for the tremendous work they do each day. This year has chberger, Assistant Commissioner of Fleet and Technical been a success because of our firefighters, fire officers, Services James Basile and representatives from the UFA EMTs, paramedics, fire marshals and civilian staff. I and UFOA participated in the meetings with Seagrave thank you for your dedication and look forward to work- leadership. The goal from the outset was to ensure that the ing with you in the coming years. Department had the ability to provide the best, most reli- As 2005 comes to a close, we also reflect upon the able apparatus and support for our members. courage and sacrifice of Lieutenants Curtis Meyran and Following these meetings, Seagrave immediately John Bellew and Firefighter Richard Sclafani. Celebrate changed its management structure and added technical their lives and continue to keep these firefighters’ families staff to meet our demands. In addition, the manufacturer in your thoughts and prayers this season. was “put on notice” regarding all of these issues. We were I wish you and your family a happy, healthy holiday uncompromising in our demands and expectations. Sea- and best wishes in 2006. grave addressed each of our concerns and provided us with a timeline for the repair and return of our outstand- ing vehicles. In October, the Department sponsored a 30-day inde- pendent review of Seagrave’s operations with the help of Exponent, a national consulting company. The purpose of this third-party review was to have an independent organ- ization examine Seagrave’s operations and determine 2 Commissioner’s Message ViewPoint from 9 MetroTech December 2005 Gifts of the Season FDNY helps kick off annual City Harvest Food Drive t’s not often the FDNY measures suc- “The ‘Daily News Readers Icess in cans of chicken soup. Care to Feed the Hungry’ food But on November 16, the Department drive has become a regular announced that it once again is partnering part of the Fire Department’s with City Harvest and the Daily News to holiday season,” Commis- collect non-perishable food items for the sioner Scoppetta said. “With 22nd annual ‘Readers Care to Feed the everyone’s help, we can make Hungry of New York’ food drive at this year’s drive even more Engine 7/Ladder 1. successful.” “Participation in the drive is simple,” The food collected is dis- Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta tributed to more than 800 said. “There are collection points all over community food programs the City. The donated cans of food will throughout the five boroughs, go directly towards feeding hungry New including soup kitchens and Yorkers.” emergency food pantries. The food drive has become the largest City Harvest’s CEO, Sally in New York City, bringing in more than Hernandez Pinero, said she is 200 tons of food last year alone, translat- thrilled and grateful that New ing to more than 320,000 meals served. Yorkers are so generous every And this year, organizers said they want year. And John Campi, Daily to do even better. News’ Vice President of Pro- “Let’s give to the people who really motion and Community Affairs, added, “without the need it,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Commissioner Scoppetta joins Mayor Bloomberg and “To people who can’t afford to feed them- support of the FDNY, it would be impossible to do this drive other City officials in launching the City Harvest food selves and their families.” collection program sponsored by the Daily News.