Kenneth Adams: They’re ‘A Valuable Resource to the Business Community’
By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BOERUM HILL — At any fire in a commercial or industrial building, you may notice several uniformed personnel who look just like firefighters except for the fact that they wear red hats.

In reality, these gentlemen aren’t firefighters at all — they’re officers of the New York Fire Patrol, whose job it is to protect property after a fire. They’ve been serving the public since the 19th century, and have three “fire patrol houses” in the city, one of which is on Dean Street at Court Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

However, the Fire Patrol may not be around too much longer. The Fire Patrol officers have been notified by their parent body, the New York Board of Fire Underwriters, that the patrol will be shut down on Oct. 15.

There have been protests in Greenwich Village, where one of the other firehouses is located, and the city uniformed firefighters’ union has issued statements in solidarity with the fire patrol. But, so far, there has not been a groundswell of activity in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Fire Patrol house dates from 1908, and currently employs 22 officers, according to Officer Ed Moran, who is stationed there. It covers a huge area — Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. “We don’t try to save lives,” Moran says, “but we try to salvage any property we can. We have FDNY radios, so we know when to respond to a fire.”

The Fire Patrol doesn’t only respond to huge office buildings or industrial plants — even mom-and-pop stores fill the definition of “commercial.” Typically, the unit will respond to a scene and spread a huge tarp over a location that has been hit by fire. Often, they’ll go to the floor above and pump out water that could ruin property on the floor below.

Officers from the Dean Street Fire Patrol House have responded to everything from “mom-and-pop shops on Fifth Avenue” to fires in Sunset Park industrial buildings to factories in Williamsburg, he adds. Charlie Tedesco, a Manhattan Fire Patrol officer who is also an official in their union, Local I-25, says ending the Fire Patrol, which already has been cut from a peak of 10 houses in the 1950s, would be a disaster for businesses.

“In other cities, where there’s no Fire Patrol, it takes businesses months to be able to operate again,” he said. “Here, when we save equipment, some of them can get back to work the next day. “If not for the Fire Patrol, who will pump out the water? The firefighters have already said they wouldn’t do our job.

“It costs $8.5 million a year to operate the Fire Patrol,” he added. “That’s a drop in the bucket compared with all the money the insurance companies [who fund the Board of Fire Underwriters] have.” ‘Career Opportunities?’

The decision to eliminate the Fire Patrol is so recent that if one logs onto the New York Board of Fire Underwriters’ web site, nybfu.org, one can still see a long section on the Fire Patrol, its history, and even “career opportunities.”

The fire patrol provides a valuable service to business, said Kenneth Adams, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “We recently had a fire in our building at 25 Elm Place. There was an electrical fire in our basement. The Fire Department came and started pumping thousands of gallons of water into the basement to deal with the fire. Fire Patrol responded to this fire, they parked outside my window. They were prepared to protect our computers, our records.

“There was no water damage in our office, but we were relieved and gratified to know Fire Patrol was here, in our building, willing to protect our office. They’re a very valuable resource to the business community,” said Adams.

The decision to eliminate the patrol was apparently made in late 2005, after an independent audit found flaws in the operation of the patrol, including a lack of computer systems and a shortage of communications technology. There was some question as to whether the Fire Patrol’s activities justified the amount of money the Board was spending on it.

Gregory Serio, the new president of the Board of Fire Underwriters (and the former Insurance superintendent of New York state) did not return calls from this newspaper by press time yesterday. The Fire Patrol has started an online petition drive, and has retained the legal services of attorney Arthur Schwartz, best known as the lawyer for the Transport Workers Union during the recent, short-lived transit strike.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2006
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