Not only did New York record its lowest-ever homicide rate in 2012, it also saw the fewest fire deaths since record-keeping started in 1916, the Fire Department of New York reported on Wednesday. Fifty-eight people died in fires, compared to 62 in 2010, the next-lowest year on record. That’s not as steep a drop as that of the murder rate, but it represents a steady decline, and as The New York Times points out, “the fatalities represent a sharp decrease from the 1980s, when it was routine for more than 200 people to die in fires each year.” Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano credited department efforts to educate children and hand out smoke detectors. He also pointed to faster response times. Per the Daily News: “The FDNY also reported that ambulances responding to life-threatening medical emergencies set a new record with an average of six minutes and 30 seconds — beating the previous low in 2011 by one second.” The Times’ coverage of the milestone, however, included this disturbing detail: “firefighters continue to be killed or wounded inside burning buildings where no civilians are killed, or, in some cases, even present.” That’s a stat we’d also like to see change.
