TESTIMONY
Kevin Woods, Assistant Chief of Fire Operations at New York City Fire Department on the Twinpox Fire Anniversary and Related Legislation
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10 min
Kevin Woods discusses the tragic impact of the Twinpox fire, the New York City Fire Department's (FDNY) response, and related city council legislation.
- Woods highlights the Twinpox fire's impact, including 17 fatalities and 46 hospitalizations, and praises the FDNY's quick and effective response.
- He details FDNY's enhanced fire safety education efforts post-Twinpox, including increased outreach and doubling the number of people educated on fire safety.
- The testimony covers proposed legislation related to fire safety and emergency response, including amendments to the fire and building codes and requirements for notifying officials and providing body armor to EMS workers.
- Woods advocates for continued collaboration between the fire department and the council to develop effective fire safety legislation.
Kevin Woods
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Thank you.
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Good morning, Chair Ariola, Chair Sanchez.
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Members of the Fire And Emergency Management Committee, members of the Housing And Buildings Committee, and the sponsors of today's legislation.
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My name is Kevin Woods.
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I am the assistant chief of fire operations at the New York City Fire Department.
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I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today about the 2nd anniversary of the Twinpox fire and the legislation being considered by the city council.
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The Twin Fox fire was a tragedy that remains imprinted on the minds of every firefighter and member of EMS who responded on that Sunday morning in the Bronx.
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In 2022.
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It proved fatal for 17 members of our community and resulted in the hospitalization of 46 other residents.
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We remember the fire's devastation, but we also remember the brave efforts of the firefighters' EMT's and paramedics who provided lifesaving care.
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200 firefighters and 57 ambulances responded to the incident, with the first units arriving in roughly 3 minutes.
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Through their tenacious efforts, including at times placing the safety of the residents, above their own FDNY members rescued 15 residents who were discovered in cardiac arrest.
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Transporting them to local hospitals, and ultimately saving their lives.
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FDNY members assisted dozens of other patients so that they were able to escape the building, including many who were trapped or unconscious and provided immediate medical care.
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In the wake of the TwinPLACER, the department shifted our outreach and education efforts into overdrive.
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The Fire Safety Education Unit worked with community and faith based organizations, schools, tenant associations, and local and elected stakeholders to enhance fire safety programming citywide.
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We partnered with our fellow agencies and payroll offices to ensure that our reach was as broad as possible, including the Department of Youth And Community Development, the mayor's office of criminal justice, health and hospitals, the administration of child services, the Department of Education, and the New York Police Department's Community Affairs Unit.
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These programs focus on educating residents to be prepared for and prevent fires and other emergencies.
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They include discussions on topics that were relevant to the Twinpox fire, including space heaters, having an escape plan, and the importance of closing the door behind you when escaping a fire.
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I will highlight a few statistics that demonstrate the agency's efforts to expand outreach and education.
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In 2021, the year prior to Twinpox, the FDOI Fire Safety And Education Unit performed fire safety prilling 151,000 people.
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In 2022, that number nearly doubled.
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To a total audience of 281,000.
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In 2023, that total number of individuals who attended a fire safe the presentation went up again to approximately 423,000.
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That's an increase of 180%.
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From the amount of public education we were providing prior to Twin Parks.
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That included a 30% increase in the number of fire safety presentations in schools from 2022 to 2023.
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I want to take this opportunity to thank the council members who coordinated with us to schedule a fire safety education event in your district.
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Many of whom are here today, and I would like to encourage all of you to partner with the fire department.
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To hold education events for your constituents.
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Another legacy of the Twinpox fire is that we strengthened our partnership and coordination.
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Fire inspectors do a great job inspecting the common areas of multiple dwellings like Twin Park.
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But they generally do not have access to individual apartments or to private dwellings.
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FDNY worked with the Department of Housing, Preservation, And Development to refine training for HPD inspectors, specifically on the topic of self closing doors.
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We also worked with HPD to implement several data sharing activities.
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Some of that work came about as the result of conversations that we had with council members on the 2 committees hosting the hearing today and the legislation that resulted from those conversations.
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We are proud that we have been able to learn lessons from this tragedy and improve safety conditions across the city as a result.
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I'll briefly address the legislation being heard today that directly affects the fire department.
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Introduction 88 would amend the fire code and the building code to establish periodic inspections, tech may smoke control systems.
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The existing New York City fire code require Considering that the fire department does not consider ineffective or malfunctioning smoke dampers to be a pervasive problem that we face when responding to fires in the city.
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Introduction 89 would require the fire department to provide notice within 6 hours of each fire to the respective council member borrower president and community board in whose jurisdiction the fire occurred.
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The fire department currently provides notification of fires involving a fatality, or other characteristics of interest.
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We believe that the intent of the legislation already substantially fulfilled by the office of emergency management watch command notifications.
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Watch command notifications are sent in a large variety of circumstances including when a brushfire impacts an area within the 5 boroughs.
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If a fire occurs in a high traffic or sensitive area, If a fire reaches a 3rd alarm, if a fire involves potentially hazardous material, as well as other circumstances involve FDNY activity.
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They also circulate notifications if a fire has occurred outside of New York City has an impact within the city, including smell, smoke, or other factors.
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To give you a sense of volume, there were approximately 34,000 800 fires in New York City in 2023.
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That's almost a 100 fires a day on Without substantial impact to locations beyond the fire itself, The FDNY strives to keep council members, borough presidents, and community boards updated.
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However, the personnel and time necessary to comply with this legislation would be substantial and not the Section 903 would require the fire department to provide body armor to all emergency serve.
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Chris, members.
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Under the legislation, the body armor shall meet a ballistic resistance or stab resistance.
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Stand After leaving the fire department office and involve the provision of emergency medical services.
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That is conducted in partnership, that is conducted in partnership, that is conducted in partnership with New York City Health And Hospitals.
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The program is focused in patients who are experienced a mental health crisis and patients who are potentially violence.
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In addition, members receive instruction on contact and others for assistance during an escalating situation or emergency, including communicating with law enforcement.
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The training that we provide now does not comply with the provisions of introduction 904.
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That would require it to be offered annually.
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However, the department does offer a portion of that training on the learning management system which is available on all in all EMS stations at any time.
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We are always exploring ways to make our members safer So we are happy to continue engaging with the council to develop a version of this legislation that is satisfactory to all.
0:59:11
Thank you very much.