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by WILLIAM MURPHY
Fire response times to emergencies continued to slow down last month, following a trend that began late last year, according to statistics that became available yesterday.
It took the first arriving fire unit an average of 24 seconds longer to respond in April than the same month last year, the eighth consecutive month of slower responses, according to figures posted on the Fire Department's Web site.
The Fire Department declined to say whether it considered the increase a trend, but the fire unions have said it is the culmination of eliminating six engine companies in 2003 and cutting staff in December.
A department official, who asked not to be identified, theorized that the drivers of fire vehicles had become more cautious in the wake of admonishments.
Those warnings, from the department and the fire unions, came last year after a fire engine on an emergency run struck a van in the Bronx, killing a van occupant.
There were 111 accidents involving fire vehicles in the first three months of this year, the fire official said, down from 155 and 159 during the same periods in 2004 and 2003, respectively.
"This shows they have fewer accidents. That's a fact," the official said. "If you get into an accident, you don't get there at all."
It took 4 minutes and 34 seconds to respond to the most serious category of fire emergencies in April, 24 seconds slower than the same month last year.
That trend has held true since last September. The department has declined to speculate publicly about the slower responses until now.
The average response time for all of last year to top priority calls was 4 minutes and 21 seconds, one second slower than 2003 and 8 seconds slower than 2002.
Officials at first wondered if the winter weather had slowed vehicles this year, but snowfall for the year turned out to be about the same as the previous two years
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc
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