Ariola presses Esposito on Bronx fifth firefighter pilot

Specific engine companies that are statistically overburdened relative to their current staffing based on call volume, run frequency, or simultaneous incident rates, and can you provide data to the committee?

And those are the engine companies that historically, in those 20, that we provide the fifth firefighter to, the ones that have heavier fire duty in those areas that have the bigger buildings.

Would you support a pilot program in the Bronx with a fifth firefighter in 20 of their busiest firehouses?

Would you support that as an agency?

We would welcome additional resources.

Is that something that you're willing to fight with the council for with the Mamdani administration to fund?

We would welcome additional resources to deal with this fire problem that we have.

Rather than a binary choice between full citywide development and no deployment and no deployment, has the FDNY evaluated a tiered

or phased approach that prioritizes the highest need companies first?

And if you have, you know, how would you prioritize that and the deployment of the firefighter?

Those fires in the Bronx that we're seeing generally in six and seven story buildings that are over 100 years old, old building stock,

The potential for spread in those buildings is high.

Some of these fires, the fire raced up through the stairway, so it's long hose line stretches.

And you can compare that to Queens that in some parts have smaller buildings, shorter hose line stretches.

So that fifth firefighter would be...

Much better off in areas with larger buildings, longer hose line stretches.

And does the fire department track instances where a company is committed to an active call and a second call comes in requiring a delayed or cross-district response?

That's something that we don't currently track.

So we know, though, that in those areas, those busier areas with the companies that are doing,

responding to more incidents, that there are times they're on one, and then another company has to come over and respond to an incident because that original company is not available.

And when that other company comes over, doesn't that leave a gap in coverage for a large portion of that particular area that the second apparatus would be covering?

I would dispass.

Watchers in the communications office are able to manage and move resources around the city.

So if they do see a gap in that coverage, then they'll move another company over as well.

So kind of someone is always without coverage.

Like if you keep moving them, somebody's always without coverage.

If you keep moving them along.

We continually assess and move resources around.

All right.

At this point, I'd like to go over to my panel for questions on Fifth Firefighter.

Oh, your panel.

Yeah, well, we have anybody who's the next up.

Oh, okay, yes.

Sorry, yes.

And if anybody wants to talk about Fifth Firefighter and you already spoke, just please sign up for second round.

Got it.