FIREFIGHTERS NEW YORK
Claudia Torres
The New York Fire Department or abbreviated (FDNY) is the official fire department of New York City, and has the responsibility to protect citizens and property of the fires in five districts of the city, providing emergency medical services, rescue techniques, as well as first response to biological, chemical and radioactive risks.
The FDNY has approximately 11,600 officers and firefighters and about 3,200 paramedics, covering an unusually varied scope. In addition to responding to fires in any type of buildings - including the Manhattan skyscrapers, they must do so in many bridges and tunnels, large parks and wooded areas, not to mention the largest metro system in the world. This body is nicknamed "The New York's Bravest".
It is headquartered at 9 MetroTech Center, Downtown Brooklyn.
Organization
Like most United States fire departments, the FDNY is organized similarly to a military unit. The executive personnel department is divided into two areas, which include a civilian fire commissioner who is in charge of the department and a fire chief who is the chief operating officer.
Operationally and geographically, the department is organized into five commissions that correspond to the five districts of New York. Within these communes there are nine divisions, each led by an Assistant Chief. Within each division there are four to seven battalions, led by a Battalion Chief, and generally composed of about 180-200 firefighters and officers. Each battalion consists of four to eight companies, led by a captain.
History
Old building of the Brooklyn Fire Department, near the Metrotech Center, before its consolidation with New York City in 1898. Designed by architect Frank Freeman and built in 1892.
The origins of the New York City Fire Department date back to 1648, when the first fire ordinance was approved in what was then the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam.
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