NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — After the January high-rise fire in the Bronx that killed 17 people, lawmakers in the city pushed for several new fire safety bills to prevent another tragedy on Wednesday.
“It is our responsibility as a city to protect and educate the public on how to prevent fires as well as properly respond to a fire when one occurs,” said city council member Joann Ariola.
The deadly blaze exposed some of the shortcomings in the city code which allowed landlords to cut corners resulting in not only the fire igniting but spreading rapidly.
A lack of heat was to blame for the fire starting as multiple space heaters in the building were left on for hours. Brooklyn Councilwoman Crystal Hudson's bill would address this root cause by making landlords turn up the heat.
“This bill will raise the minimum required temperature overnight from 62 degrees to 66 degrees as amended,” Hudson said. “It will not raise the maximum from 68 degrees as the city is preempted by state law from doing so.”
After the fire was started, it was able to spread quickly in part due to faulty self-closing doors. Council member Oswald Feliz introduced legislation that would force building owners to fix them in 10 days or less as opposed to 21 days.
The bill would also increase fines to $1,000 against landlords who falsely claim to have repaired the doors, up from about $250.
Another bill would prohibit the sale of electric space heaters that do not automatically shut off and lack thermostat features.
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