January 7, 2008 -- The FDNY responded more quickly than ever to fires and medical emergencies in 2007, Mayor Bloomberg bragged yesterday.
The firefighters answered a record number of calls - more than 490,000 - yet whittled the average response time down to 4 minutes, 49 seconds, the mayor said in his weekly radio address.
"That's five seconds quicker than during 2006 and 20 seconds faster than in 2005," the mayor said, calling the feat "truly remarkable."
The firefighters union declined to comment. It has long maintained that response time can be misleading to the public, since the stat keepers often use the time of arrival of any FDNY vehicle, not necessarily a firetruck.
Bloomberg also said the FDNY's Emergency Medical Services answered a record 1.19 million calls last year.
Republished with permission from The New York Post
