Fire Sparks Calls To Save Eng. 271

After a three-alarm fire ravaged several apartments on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border in Brooklyn last Wednesday morning, Mar. 18, elected officials and activists called on the Fire Department to restore full service to a nearby engine company that was closed during the blaze.

Fire Department sources reported that the inferno, which broke out at around 1:45 a.m. last Wednesday inside a three-story apartment house in the vicinity of Wyckoff and Greene avenues, spread to two adjoining structures and left about a dozen families homeless.

Reportedly, the fire started on the top floor of 213 Wyckoff Ave. and spread through the roof and cockloft areas to the attached dwellings on both sides.

Members of Engine companies 206, 214, 216, 217, 218, 222, 230, 233, 237, 286 and 291; Ladder companies 108, 111, 112, 124, 135, 140, 146 and 176; Squad Company 252; Rescue 2; and Battalions 28, 35, 27, 38, 45 and 57—under the direction of Division 11—responded to the scene along with the 83rd Precinct and EMS units.

Officers from the 83rd Precinct and the American Red Cross of Greater New York were on the scene providing assistance hours after a three-alarm fire claimed several residences along Wyckoff Avenue on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border in Brooklyn last Wednesday morning, Mar. 18. (photos: Joseph Epstein) Though no serious injuries were reported, the displaced residents—including as many as 35 adults and 17 children—were provided assistance by the American Red Cross of Greater New York.

Six hose lines were reportedly used by FDNY units to bring the fire under control at around 3:10 a.m., a Fire Department spokesperson said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, it was noted.

City Council Member Diana Reyna noted that Engine Company 271, which is located at 392 Himrod St. about four blocks away from where the blaze originated, would have been the first unit to respond to the fire but was out of service that morning due to cutbacks imposed by the FDNY in January.

As previously reported, Engine 271 was one of four engine units across the five boroughs ordered in January to close during nighttime hours between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. whenever necessary to fill absences in other FDNY companies.

The department indicated that the measure would help it reduce overtime costs.

Since Jan. 17, according to infor- mation provided at Brooklyn Community Board 4's Mar. 18 meeting, Engine 271 has been closed on the nights of Jan. 17, Jan. 20; Feb. 20, 21 and 28; and Mar. 7, 14 and 17. As noted, the unit was still out of service when the Wyckoff Avenue fire broke out early on the morning of Mar. 18.

In a statement, Council Member Reyna indicated that the first responding engine company arrived at the location in just under four minutes. She maintained that had Engine 271 been in operation that night, the response time would have been reduced by half.

Engine 271 was back on duty at 9 a.m. on Mar. 18 and responded to a fire in the vicinity of St. Nicholas and DeKalb avenues (see the photo on Page 2).

Reyna noted that the FDNY plans to close Engine 271 permanently this July to reduce expenses in the fiscal year 2010 budget. The plan was announced to residents of Ridgewood by an FDNY official during the Feb. 23 meeting of the Citizens for a Better Ridgewood civic association.

"The closing of Engine 271 can mean the difference between a house burning down and a block burning down," said Reyna in her Mar. 20 statement, noting that many homes in the surrounding area are attached, potentially allowing a fire to spread rapidly from dwelling to dwelling.

"We cannot put the lives of our constituents in jeopardy by cutting this vital emergency service," she added. "We are literally playing with fire here."

Members of the two major unions representing firefighters, the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, joined the Council member in condemning the closure plan.

"Closing fire companies that provide life-saving services is extremely hazardous to the lives of community residents," said John C. Cavanaugh of the UFOA. "Life-saving services such as the FDNY should not be mandated to cut back its budget in the same fashion as parks and libraries."

"Fires grow exponentially every minute, so in firefighting every second really does count," added John Kelly, the UFA's Brooklyn trustee. "Nighttime closures are even more dangerous because they often go undetected for longer periods of time while the streets are empty and residents are sleeping."

City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley also blasted the FDNY's plan to close firehouses and eliminate a number of EMS units during a rally with firefighters at City Hall held last Friday, Mar. 20 prior to a meeting of the legislature's Fire and Criminal Justice Committee.

"If the Fire Department must make budget cuts they should look first to reducing their back office expenses before closing firehouses and eliminating firefighters," Crowley said. "Each firehouse closing means more time to respond to an emergency. This is a public safety issue where time loss equals lives lost. As a city, we are one of the highest profile terrorist targets in the world, and we have no room to compromise our emergency services."