New York mayor indicators hearth security order after deadly Bronx hearth -

The govt order is designed to boost hearth security enforcement, outreach efforts to coach New Yorkers, and determine security violations, Adams introduced in a information launch.

“We must work towards equipping every New Yorker and every building in this city with the tools to avoid an unspeakable tragedy like the one we saw two months ago,” mentioned Adams.

The Bronx hearth began when an area heater malfunctioned in a third-floor duplex, metropolis officers have mentioned. The self-closing entrance door of the unit failed to shut, in accordance with hearth officers. The fire-fueled smoke unfold upward to the 15th flooring, the place one other door failed to shut routinely.

All 17 victims — who included eight youngsters — died of smoke inhalation, in accordance with the town health worker. Nearly all of them have been immigrants from The Gambia and different West African international locations.

It was one of many deadliest fires within the metropolis’s historical past.

Adams mentioned within the information launch his administration will group up with the town council “to enact additional fire safety legislation, including sensible retrofit sprinkler legislation and legislation that increases fines for landlords who falsely report curing a self-closing door violation.”

It may also enhance cooperation between the New York Fire Department (FDNY) and the Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) to implement hearth security legal guidelines.

The companies will coordinate to search for housing code violations and guarantee compliance with the FDNY necessities, resembling posting the hearth security discover on house entrance doorways.

The HPD will present the hearth division with entry to all hearth security violations issued since January 1, 2021, which can enable the FDNY to hold out frequent inspections on buildings with quite a few violations.

The govt order may also concentrate on the 2 companies launching a marketing campaign to coach New Yorkers on hearth security and the way they’ll cut back the danger of emergencies.

The marketing campaign will embrace informing metropolis residents on what to do in case of a hearth and reminding constructing homeowners of their hearth security obligations. The marketing campaign additionally seeks to coach folks on all types of hearth security resembling working smoke detectors, self-closing doorways and range knob covers.

“Educating New Yorkers on fire safety is among the most important goals of the Fire Department — and one we take very seriously,” Laura Kavanagh, the performing FDNY commissioner, mentioned within the assertion. “These new partnerships will strengthen the work we already do and help us reach the neediest residents in all corners of the city on fire education and prevention.”

The FDNY and the town’s Department of Education may also attain out to varsities to coach “teachers, staff, and students about appropriate fire safety measures and proper evacuation procedures,” the information launch mentioned.