Response Time Is Down, Fire Department Says
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The Fire Department said it has shaved off five seconds from its overall response time in the past year, even as the number of calls has inched up slightly in 2007.
The 490,767 calls included a record number of responses to nonemergency situations, like water main breaks and fire alarms, the department said.
The citywide response time to all emergencies last year was four minutes and 49 seconds. That is compared to four minutes and 54 seconds in 2006 and five minutes and 9 seconds in 2005.
The citywide response time to structural fires in 2007 was four minutes and 27 seconds, which is down two seconds from four minutes and 29 seconds in 2006 and four minutes and 36 seconds in 2005.
