Queens Tribune

The average response time for the 5,166 structural fires in Queens in 2007 was 4 minutes and 58 seconds, compared to the combined average of 4 minutes and 21 seconds for the other four boroughs.

"Thirty-seven seconds is a long time; a lot of things can change," said one veteran City firefighter. "In high heat, 37 seconds can really be significant."

Queens' average response time for the approximately 38,572 non-fire emergencies in 2007, which are utility or other emergencies that are not fire or medical related, was 5 minutes and 45 seconds – nearly 30 seconds behind the citywide average of 5 minutes and 17 seconds. And for the 42,900 medical emergencies in Queens last year, the average response time was 4 minutes and 42 seconds, while the citywide average was 4 minutes and 20 seconds.

Brooklyn led the City in 2007 in all emergency response performance indicators.

The Uniformed Fire Officers Association said the borough is underserved, which leads to lagging response times and the endangering of lives and property.

"It's unacceptable," said UFOA Research Director Martin Steadman, "because in a fire every second counts."

Due to budget cuts, the City, beginning in 2002, closed six firehouses, including Engine Co. 261 in Long Island City, and reduced the number of firefighters from five to four on dozens of engine companies.

Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy called Fire Department response times "deliberately misleading" and "not a true indicator of adequate response."

"When a family is trapped on the twelfth floor of a building, they must be more concerned about when and how many firefighters get to the apartment door to begin rescuing them," he said.

Cassidy also has consistently blasted the engine staff reduction.

"The FDNY's own studies show that an engine company staffed with four firefighters takes twice as long to begin operations at a fire scene than one staffed with five firefighters," said Cassidy. "In the entire city there are only 64 FDNY engine companies regularly staffed with five-firefighters. Every company should have full staffing of five-firefighters and anything less endangers both public and firefighter safety."

Steadman echoed Cassidy's sentiment, adding that fire officers would rather have a fifth firefighter on the engine because it enables the unit to perform at a quicker rate at emergency scenes.

The average response time to structural fires in Queens in 2007 follows a negative trend. Since 1995, Queens has lagged behind the citywide average response time by an average of 30.6 seconds. Since Engine Co. 261 closed in 2003, the average response time to structural fires in Queens has been nearly 28 seconds behind the citywide average.

Steadman said a direct correlation can be made. "We're looking at these Queens numbers in a whole new light," he explained. "We believe that these numbers demand the reopening of Engine Company 261 in Long Island City."

Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth) has been vocal about reopening the engine quarters on 29th Street between 37th and 38th Avenues since the City ordered it permanently out of service.

"When the city administration made the wrong decision to shutter the company back in 2003, virtually every community official warned that the loss of this unit would have a severe impact on fire safety in Long Island City," Markey said. "There was an immediate increase in response time in Long Island City at the time and the area continues to be in the bottom half of boroughwide response time performance. New residential and commercial developments in Long Island City continue to add to the population and increase the potential danger to public safety. It concerns all of us to see that Queens ranks last among all the boroughs in response time to serious fires. These figures are a wake up call that we need to reopen E-261 immediately and insist that the City provide more and better fire service in Queens."

FDNY officials did not return calls seeking comment.