Education - FDNY History

A Quick History of the FDNY - by Peter Rothenberg and Geoff Giglierano
Chapter 1: Begining With a Blaze	Chapter 8: The Process of Professionalization
Chapter 2: The First Fire Engines	Chapter 9: Faster and Better in a Changing City
Chapter 3: Competition	Chapter 10: Covering More Ground
Chapter 4: Hear the Loud Alarm Bells	Chapter 11: Firefighting Starts Becoming a Science
Chapter 5: Pumpers and Politics	Chapter 12: Larger Events Affect the Department
Chapter 6: Decline of the Volunteer System	Chapter 13: FDNY and Times of Social Upheaval
Chapter 7: Volunteer Department's Demise	Chapter 14 The Job Goes On

Chapter 14 The Job Goes On

"Despite the severe fiscal constraints faced by this and most other municipal agencies, we have been able to maintain the confidence of the public--as we have since the founding of the paid department in 1865....As I stated when I was appointed Fire Commissioner, the Department would begin to focus more on fire prevention, fire safety education, and training."
Commissioner Joseph F. Bruno, Fire Department , City of New York, Annual Report and Statistics, 1988, New York, 1989, pp.4-5

Conditions improved in the 1980s. Hazardous materials units with specialized gear and training were formed. There were fewer fires in part because certain troubled areas were largely burned out but also because of the aggressive efforts made to prevent fires, educate the public, and enforce building codes. In 1990, not counting non-fire emergencies such as medical runs, the department responded to 243,855 "incidents," over 147,000 of which were false alarms. Fire deaths and injuries also declined as the use of smoke detectors became more widespread. And finally, as the economy improved in the 1990s, the City's budget situation became less restrictive and more and better equipment was available.

Women first entered the ranks of the FDNY in 1982.. In the late 1980s, fire companies began receiving emergency medical training and started responding on EMS runs. The movement to combine medical and fire functions culminated in 1997 when the city's emergency medical service came under the control of the fire department. Bunker gear, consisting of a fire resistant jacket and pants replaced the raincoat style turnout coat in the early 1990s.

Today FDNY serves more than 8,000,000 people who live in a 320 square mile area. The department is directed by the Fire Commissioner, who is appointed by the Mayor. The uniformed force, consisting of over 11,000 fire officers and firefighters, is commanded by the Chief of Department. FDNY also includes almost 3,000 emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and supervisors assigned to the bureau of Emergency medical Service, and approximately 1,200 civilian employees. Although some of the threats have changed to now include problems such as chemical spills and terrorist attacks, and the equipment is far different from even a few years ago, the men and women of FDNY continue to protect lives and property in the traditions of hard work and self-sacrifice established by their predecessors in New York's fire service.