by JONATHAN LEMIRE
Fire commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta Wednesday touted a dramatic rise in the number of buildings FDNY inspectors have examined because of reforms prompted by the fatal Deutsche Bank blaze.
But his testimony was savaged by skeptical City Council members and the presidents of the city's two fire unions, who believe the new program could result in a rise in response times to structure fires.
Scoppetta told Council members that the FDNY has been conducting 97% of the required biweekly inspections of the 468 high-rise buildings being constructed or demolished in the city.
And as first reported in yesterday's Daily News, Scoppetta said response times to fires actually dropped last month the first month in which firefighters were required to spend three additional hours a week doing inspections.
But echoing concerns raised by Fire Safety Committee members Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan) and Eric Gioia (D-Queens), the fire unions argued that firefighters who are out inspecting high-rises will be slower to reach actual blazes.
"We're concerned about the safety of firefighters and the public," said Uniformed Fire Officers Association President Jack McDonnell, who supports creating a new FDNY unit to handle the inspections.
"If firefighters are on the 20th floor of a building and need to get to a fire, logic says it will take them longer to arrive than from a firehouse," McDonnell said.
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