Are firehouses stretched too thin?

Three fires broke out in Riverdale during the weekend of Nov. 6. On Saturday, Nov. 7, a fire was reported at 5240 Henry Hudson Parkway, the building’s second serious fire within the past 12 months. The truck from Engine Company 52/Ladder Company 52 at 4550 Henry Hudson Parkway East was out of the area for the weekend for training purposes. Engine Company 81/Ladder Company 46, located at 3025 Bailey Ave., responded to the fire. 

The following day 81/46 responded to a fire at 5555 Netherland Ave. When yet another blaze was reported, on the 14th floor of 630 W. 246th St., 81 was busy and 52 was still out of town, so a truck from the East Bronx had to cross the borough to fight the fire.

Herb Eysser, the research director for the Uniformed Firefighters Association, brought up these examples during Community Board 8’s Nov. 9 Land Use Committee meeting. He opposed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed zoning initiatives on grounds that an increase in the local population could exacerbate the already high demand on Riverdale’s fire departments. 

“It’s just getting busier and busier,” Mr. Eysser explained in a phone interview. “Their availability is thinned out.”

According to Mr. Eysser, Engine 52 responds to 2,500 alarms annually, while 81/46 handles about 4,500 alarms each year. His data showed that 102,845 alarms were reported throughout the Bronx in 2014. During the last 10 months, firefighters around New York City have responded to 489,693 alarms — an increase of 50,000 over the previous year.

Mr. Eysser believes fire departments are busier today as a result of an increased focus on the threat of gas leaks. Residents have made more calls to report suspected leaks since deadly recent gas explosions in Manhattan — on March 25 and last year.

Joseph O’Brien, chairman of CB 8’s Public Safety, said Mr. Eysser’s statement at the Nov. 9 Land Use meeting was the first time he has heard local firehouses might be stretched too thin. He said the issue was worth investigating.

“If this is regular, then you have to make a statement,” said Mr. O’Brien. “You need better coverage, more facilities somehow or another.”