New York, NY – Average FDNY Response Time Decrease

New York, NY – The fire department's average response time decreased last year for the second consecutive year.

The average response time for all incidents was 4 minutes and 49 seconds in 2007, a decrease from 4 minutes and 54 seconds in 2006, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said. In 2005, the average response time was 5 minutes and 9 seconds, he said.

The city's firefighters responded to a total of 490,767 calls in 2007, a slight increase from 484,954 in 2006.

The department's EMS received a record number of calls — nearly 1.2 million — in 2007, a two percent increase from 2006. [AP]