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Q&A
Lithium-ion Battery Task Force operations
1:10:04
·
132 sec
Chief Fire Marshal Flynn provides details on the operations of the Lithium-ion Battery Task Force. He explains the composition of the task force and its inspection procedures.
- The task force includes members from BFI, Bureau of Fire Prevention, and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
- It operates Monday through Friday, conducting inspections and follow-ups on violations
- The task force has a list of locations to inspect but can adjust based on new information or complaints
- They encourage public reporting of new commercial establishments selling lithium-ion batteries
Joann Ariola
1:10:04
Alright.
1:10:04
Great.
1:10:04
And we talk about the Lithium Ion Task Force.
1:10:07
So if you can just explain that to us, what other city agencies are involved in it regarding inspections and enforcement?
1:10:17
How does the FDNY coordinate efforts with those partners?
1:10:22
How many FDNY fire marshals and other staff focus on lithium ion battery related inspections and enforcement?
1:10:29
And is anyone directly assigned to that?
1:10:31
Ask that many questions because I know you got a big paragraph to read to me.
Daniel Flynn
1:10:34
No.
1:10:34
I don't.
1:10:35
I don't.
1:10:35
I wanna I'm so used to talking about batteries that which is a great thing.
1:10:39
I think we made a lot
Malcolm Moore
1:10:40
of progress.
Daniel Flynn
1:10:42
So the the task force is is staffed with members of BFI, members of Bureau Fire Prevention, and members from Department of Consumer And Worker Protection.
1:10:54
That's staffed on a on a daily basis, Monday through Friday, We go out.
1:10:59
We have a list of locations that we will inspect or reinspect or follow-up on violations that have already been written.
1:11:07
So we have a list of places that we would like to get to every single day.
1:11:12
Of course, we may get caught up in one of them that requires a lot of enforcement, and we may not get to that location until the next day.
1:11:20
But we staff that regularly with with 2 fire marshals.
1:11:24
That staff right on a daily basis.
1:11:26
BFP has a minimum of 2 fire prevention inspectors, and DCWP varies.
1:11:33
I believe they would have a minimum as well of 2.
1:11:36
We do have a supervisor now that has taken over for George who we lost a couple of weeks ago.
1:11:44
So we went through an interview process after the loss of George to select somebody else to take his place, and he has recently moved into that role.
1:11:55
So they do they go city wide.
1:11:57
Most of those inspections are related to either complaints or commercial establishments that we are aware of.
1:12:03
And again, we encourage the residents of the city to let us know about any new commercial areas that have opened shops related to lithium ion batteries because I believe they open up almost every day.