FDNY, mayor declare 2025 'Fire Prevention Year'

Marking 100 years since the inception of National Fire Prevention Week, Mayor Eric Adams and FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker last week declared 2025 as Fire Prevention Year.

President Calvin Coolidge formally created National Fire Prevention Week in 1925 in the hope of educating Americans about how to prevent fires. It’s since become the longest running public health observance in the country. Its origins date back to the Great Chicago Fire of Oct. 9, 1871, which killed more than 250 people and destroyed more than 17,400 structures in the Windy City.

To mark Fire Prevention Year, the FDNY will provide educational resources to what the department has identified as the 100 most fire-prone blocks in the city. The effort will include door-to-door outreach and community events to convince residents and landlords to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, the development of fire escape plans and educating people on safety precautions during a fire.

"We do fire safety education every single day across the city. We host thousands of public education events in schools, on the streets, in communities. We provide targeted fire prevention and life safety educational resources where needed," Tucker said at the announcement, at FDNY Engine 230   on Park Avenue   in Brooklyn. "This year, we're trying something different. We're adding to the special sauce. Across the city, there are more than 600 tax blocks that we know pose a risk of fire. There's a block in every single community board in the city. "

Partly because of education efforts already in place, the number of fire deaths decreased by 25 percent in 2024 compared with 2023, according to the department. For instance, there were six deaths caused by exploding lithium-ion batteries last year, compared with 18 in 2023.

"There are so many different entities and operations and coordination of years and years of training that allows firefighters to save lives, to prevent damage, and ensure they respond not only to the flames, but the smoke that is associated with serious fires. And in order to do that, we need the partnership of the public. And that's what this is about right now," Adams said. "What FDNY is doing to make sure that we educate the public, not when the building is burning, but prior to that. "