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Q&A
Council Member Zhuang inquires about preventing fires in squatter-occupied buildings
0:33:34
ยท
3 min
Council Member Susan Zhuang raises concerns about recurring fires in a squatter-occupied house in her district, seeking solutions to prevent such incidents. FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker and Chief of Department John Esposito respond, discussing fire prevention efforts and the challenges of addressing squatter-occupied buildings.
- FDNY officials explain their process of notifying the Department of Buildings to seal vacant buildings identified as squatter-occupied.
- Commissioner Tucker offers to work with the NYPD to increase patrols in the area of concern.
- The discussion highlights the ongoing challenge of preventing fires in buildings that are repeatedly occupied by squatters, even after being sealed.
Susan Zhuang
0:33:34
Thank you.
0:33:35
Thank you, chair.
0:33:36
I have a brainstorm question.
0:33:39
I had if you put squatter house fire three words in Google, I have a house in my district that had a fire six times in past three years.
0:33:53
The house had a fire because they have squatters live there.
0:33:57
And I really appreciate if DNY really go there to help the people.
0:34:02
And I heard there's a couple of people getting injured in the job also.
0:34:06
I really appreciate your work.
0:34:08
But do we able to do something to prevent those house squatter live there before the fire happened?
0:34:18
It's happened six times already.
0:34:20
And the last time, it's a big fire.
0:34:23
A woman lost her life there.
0:34:25
And then the fire went to next door neighbor.
0:34:28
Now six family become they don't have a home anymore.
0:34:34
So do we able to do something to prevent this type of incident happen?
Robert Tucker
0:34:38
Yeah.
0:34:39
Thank you very much for your question.
0:34:41
And obviously, that's a concern.
0:34:43
I'm going to ask our chief of department, John Esposito, to give you a more specific answer.
0:34:49
But I want you to know that we have a very robust fire prevention division.
0:34:57
The team led by Chief Tom Correo who's here this morning are out in the community.
0:35:03
I talked about some of the statistics, but they are out doing fire prevention in commercial buildings, in residential buildings, in storefronts, on lithium ion battery enforcement.
0:35:18
The members of the fire prevention team at FDNY, including our amazing fire prevention inspectors, are doing a fabulous job.
0:35:28
But on your specific question, I'd like Chief Esposito to address it.
Joann Ariola
0:35:34
Thank you.
John Esposito
0:35:36
Good morning.
0:35:37
Those type of buildings where we have squatters, we generally consider them to be vacant buildings, although there are people living in them.
0:35:46
That tells us that they're usually not kept up in in good condition, and when there is a fire there, it's extremely dangerous for our firefighters.
0:35:55
When we identify that type of building, we would notify the Department of Buildings to have the building sealed and then, you know, keep up and follow through to make sure that the building is sealed so that nobody can inside of that.
0:36:10
That building, that's down in Brooklyn.
0:36:13
Correct?
Susan Zhuang
0:36:14
Yes.
0:36:14
It's in Tucker So
John Esposito
0:36:15
we've had significant fires there.
0:36:17
In the most recent fire, there was a fatality there as Yes.
0:36:21
So, you know, we can keep up and identify the buildings, but it does seem to be a problem.
Susan Zhuang
0:36:28
Is that any way this is just brainstorm.
0:36:32
Any way you guys can patrol area or NYPD can patrol that area more?
John Esposito
0:36:39
We're not always able to patrol.
0:36:41
If we do become aware of it as we are with this one, we can notify Department of Buildings to have it sealed.
Susan Zhuang
0:36:46
Okay.
0:36:47
Even if it's sealed before it's people still breaking?
Robert Tucker
0:36:51
Yeah.
0:36:51
I mean, I I can if you, after the hearing, give me the address, I'll work with commissioner Tisch and her team to provide some additional patrol over there.
0:37:04
The fire department is not we're not in the patrol business, but we partner with the NYPD every single day and I work very closely with the police commissioner and her staff and speak to them regularly.
0:37:19
And I'm happy to work with her and her team.
0:37:23
They're doing a great job and we want to work together on this.
Susan Zhuang
0:37:26
Great.
0:37:26
Thank you so much.
0:37:27
Thank you all for doing great work.
0:37:29
Thank you.