Ariola represents the 32nd Council District
By City Councilwoman Joann Ariola
We all look to New York’s Bravest, the members of the Fire Department of the City of New York, as the heroes of our city. The men and women on the front lines when we are faced with the most serious and dangerous of situations. As Chair of the Fire and Emergency Management
Committee in the NYC Council, I have been visiting firehouses and speaking with numerous
members of the FDNY and they are all asking for one thing- to bring back the fifth firefighter to their engine companies to help keep New Yorkers safe.
Currently engine companies operate with 4 firefighters which causes the FDNY to require two engine companies to respond to each call. This causes delays in operations at fires, leaves geographical gaps at the areas where the second engine would respond and can ultimately mean loss of life that could have been prevented.
The fifth firefighter takes the position of the “door firefighter,” getting the line in place and then helping to facilitate the line as the nozzle and backup firefighters face the blaze head on. The first line put into place at a fire is what saves more lives than anything else. Engine companies encounter difficult stretches of the line and other unusual situations when they are working at the location of a fire. With only 4 firefighters on the initial engine responding, critical minutes are wasted waiting for the second engine to respond to get the first line in place.
Studies have shown that the removal of the fifth firefighter adds over 4 minutes to getting the first line in place and water on the fire. It can take as little as 2 minutes for a person to pass out or die from smoke inhalation. Those 4 minutes are crucial to the lives of New Yorkers and our firefighters.
New York City needs the fifth firefighter on FDNY Engine Companies. We need to do all that we can to help the members of the FDNY do their job as quickly as possible to save lives. Last week I introduced my first piece of legislation to the NYC Council- a resolution calling on the Mayor of New York City to permanently staff all Fire Department of New York engine companies with five firefighters and an officer at the outset of each tour.
I will continue to fight for the safety of all New Yorkers and those who keep us safe.
