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Fire Department
Established as the Metropolitan Fire Department on March 30, 1865, when the state legislature replaced New York's volunteer fire companies with the city's first professional, paid fire department. The FDNY now responds to fires, medical emergencies, and other hazards across the five boroughs, and is one of the largest fire departments in the world.
What's working
- How many completed inspections performed by civilian fire prevention personnel are there?: 205,294 inspections — increasing as FDNY has steadily grown and trained its civilian Fire Prevention Inspector workforce
- How many civilian fire fatalities* are there?: 76 fatalities
- How many non-structural fires are there?: 12,352 fires
- and 1 more below
What's getting worse
- How long does it take to respond to life-threatening medical emergencies by ambulances and fire companies (FDNY dispatch and travel time only)?: 8 min 58 sec — misses target by 2 min 58 sec
- How long does it take to respond to structural fires (FDNY dispatch and travel time only)?: 4 min 39 sec — misses target by 25 sec
- How many investigations are there?: 5,353 investigations
- and 2 more below
Critical indicators
With a numeric target
How long does it take to respond to life-threatening medical emergencies by ambulances and fire companies (FDNY dispatch and travel time only)?
8 min 58 secMisses target by 2 min 58 sec
How long does it take to respond to life-threatening medical emergencies by ambulances and fire companies (FDNY dispatch and travel time only)?
8 min 58 secMisses target by 2 min 58 sec
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 6 min 31 sec | 6 min |
| FY23 | 7 min 3 sec | 6 min |
| FY24 | 7 min 23 sec | 6 min |
| FY25 | 7 min 45 sec | 6 min |
| FY26 (YTD) | 8 min 58 sec | 6 min |
8 min 58 sec in FY26 — missed the City's own target for this indicator (2 min 58 sec above the 6 min target), and it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
New York City's EMS system began in 1973 under the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation. On March 17, 1996, EMS merged into FDNY, bringing roughly 3,200 EMS workers, who then responded to about 1.2 million calls a year, into the fire department. The merger was initially contentious, seen by some EMS workers as a hostile takeover and by some firefighters as an unwanted new duty, but an in-house study conducted a few years afterward found that response times and survival rates improved, helped by the department's Certified First Responder program and additional ambulances and EMS stations. FDNY reports the average end-to-end response time to life-threatening medical emergencies was 11 minutes and 21 seconds in fiscal year 2025.
The FDNY commemorates the 30th anniversary of the merger with New York City EMS - NYC.gov, New York City Fire Department Bureau of EMS - Wikipedia
How long does it take to respond to structural fires (FDNY dispatch and travel time only)?
4 min 39 secMisses target by 25 sec
How long does it take to respond to structural fires (FDNY dispatch and travel time only)?
4 min 39 secMisses target by 25 sec
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 4 min 32 sec | 4 min 14 sec |
| FY23 | 4 min 31 sec | 4 min 14 sec |
| FY24 | 4 min 33 sec | 4 min 14 sec |
| FY25 | 4 min 35 sec | 4 min 14 sec |
| FY26 (YTD) | 4 min 39 sec | 4 min 14 sec |
4 min 39 sec in FY26 — missed the City's own target for this indicator (25 sec above the 4 min 14 sec target), and it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The modern FDNY traces to the Metropolitan Fire Department, created by an 1865 New York State law establishing a paid, professional fire department to replace the city's volunteer companies. The shift was driven by the rise of steam fire engines, which made hand-operated volunteer apparatus outdated, the city's rapid growth, and pressure from insurance companies that wanted a more reliable, professionalized fire response. The first professional unit went into service on July 31, 1865. That basic mandate, protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards, remains FDNY's core function 160 years later.
How many completed inspections performed by civilian fire prevention personnel are there?
205,294 inspections — increasing as FDNY has steadily grown and trained its civilian Fire Prevention Inspector workforceBeats target by 44,294 inspections
How many completed inspections performed by civilian fire prevention personnel are there?
205,294 inspections — increasing as FDNY has steadily grown and trained its civilian Fire Prevention Inspector workforceBeats target by 44,294 inspections
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 149,300 inspections | 161,000 inspections |
| FY23 | 153,691 inspections | 161,000 inspections |
| FY24 | 188,097 inspections | 161,000 inspections |
| FY25 | 205,294 inspections | 161,000 inspections |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | 161,000 inspections |
FDNY's Bureau of Fire Prevention has steadily grown and trained its civilian Fire Protection Inspector workforce, graduating new classes of inspectors and expanding capacity year over year; completed inspections rose from about 149,000 in FY22 to more than 205,000 in FY25, comfortably clearing the City's own target. The Bureau conducted nine percent more inspections in the first four months of FY26 alone compared to the same period a year earlier, alongside increases in violations issued and corrected, as the expanded inspector corps keeps pace with a larger caseload.
Researched July 18, 2026 — FDNY, Preliminary Fiscal 2026 Mayor's Management Report, JoinFDNY, "From the Fire Prevention Academy to the Bureau of Fire Prevention"
Why this is tracked
The modern FDNY traces to the Metropolitan Fire Department, created by an 1865 New York State law establishing a paid, professional fire department to replace the city's volunteer companies. The shift was driven by the rise of steam fire engines, which made hand-operated volunteer apparatus outdated, the city's rapid growth, and pressure from insurance companies that wanted a more reliable, professionalized fire response. The first professional unit went into service on July 31, 1865. That basic mandate, protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards, remains FDNY's core function 160 years later.
Without a numeric target
How many civilian fire fatalities* are there?
76 fatalities
How many civilian fire fatalities* are there?
76 fatalities
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 92 fatalities |
| FY23 | 102 fatalities |
| FY24 | 74 fatalities |
| FY25 | 76 fatalities |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available |
76 fatalities in FY25 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended toward improvement over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The modern FDNY traces to the Metropolitan Fire Department, created by an 1865 New York State law establishing a paid, professional fire department to replace the city's volunteer companies. The shift was driven by the rise of steam fire engines, which made hand-operated volunteer apparatus outdated, the city's rapid growth, and pressure from insurance companies that wanted a more reliable, professionalized fire response. The first professional unit went into service on July 31, 1865. That basic mandate, protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards, remains FDNY's core function 160 years later.
How many non-structural fires are there?
12,352 fires
How many non-structural fires are there?
12,352 fires
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above. The dashed marker projects a full-year estimate at the current year-to-date pace.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 13,595 fires |
| FY23 | 12,594 fires |
| FY24 | 12,260 fires |
| FY25 | 14,140 fires |
| FY26 (YTD) | 12,352 fires |
| FY26 (projected) | ~16,469 fires |
12,352 fires in FY26 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended toward improvement over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The modern FDNY traces to the Metropolitan Fire Department, created by an 1865 New York State law establishing a paid, professional fire department to replace the city's volunteer companies. The shift was driven by the rise of steam fire engines, which made hand-operated volunteer apparatus outdated, the city's rapid growth, and pressure from insurance companies that wanted a more reliable, professionalized fire response. The first professional unit went into service on July 31, 1865. That basic mandate, protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards, remains FDNY's core function 160 years later.
How many investigations are there?
5,353 investigations
How many investigations are there?
5,353 investigations
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 5,815 investigations |
| FY23 | 5,856 investigations |
| FY24 | 5,335 investigations |
| FY25 | 5,353 investigations |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available |
5,353 investigations in FY25 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The modern FDNY traces to the Metropolitan Fire Department, created by an 1865 New York State law establishing a paid, professional fire department to replace the city's volunteer companies. The shift was driven by the rise of steam fire engines, which made hand-operated volunteer apparatus outdated, the city's rapid growth, and pressure from insurance companies that wanted a more reliable, professionalized fire response. The first professional unit went into service on July 31, 1865. That basic mandate, protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards, remains FDNY's core function 160 years later.
How many structural residential fires are there?
16,102 fires
How many structural residential fires are there?
16,102 fires
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above. The dashed marker projects a full-year estimate at the current year-to-date pace.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 19,299 fires |
| FY23 | 19,666 fires |
| FY24 | 19,544 fires |
| FY25 | 20,180 fires |
| FY26 (YTD) | 16,102 fires |
| FY26 (projected) | ~21,469 fires |
16,102 fires in FY26 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The modern FDNY traces to the Metropolitan Fire Department, created by an 1865 New York State law establishing a paid, professional fire department to replace the city's volunteer companies. The shift was driven by the rise of steam fire engines, which made hand-operated volunteer apparatus outdated, the city's rapid growth, and pressure from insurance companies that wanted a more reliable, professionalized fire response. The first professional unit went into service on July 31, 1865. That basic mandate, protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards, remains FDNY's core function 160 years later.
How many structural non-residential fires are there?
3,726 fires
How many structural non-residential fires are there?
3,726 fires
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above. The dashed marker projects a full-year estimate at the current year-to-date pace.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 4,088 fires |
| FY23 | 4,238 fires |
| FY24 | 4,465 fires |
| FY25 | 4,887 fires |
| FY26 (YTD) | 3,726 fires |
| FY26 (projected) | ~4,968 fires |
3,726 fires in FY26 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The modern FDNY traces to the Metropolitan Fire Department, created by an 1865 New York State law establishing a paid, professional fire department to replace the city's volunteer companies. The shift was driven by the rise of steam fire engines, which made hand-operated volunteer apparatus outdated, the city's rapid growth, and pressure from insurance companies that wanted a more reliable, professionalized fire response. The first professional unit went into service on July 31, 1865. That basic mandate, protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards, remains FDNY's core function 160 years later.
How many critical patients who received advanced life supporting treatments are there?
133,789 treatments
How many critical patients who received advanced life supporting treatments are there?
133,789 treatments
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 111,948 treatments |
| FY23 | 126,056 treatments |
| FY24 | 117,269 treatments |
| FY25 | 133,789 treatments |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available |
133,789 treatments in FY25 — has no numeric target set by the City, and it has trended toward improvement over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
New York City's EMS system began in 1973 under the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation. On March 17, 1996, EMS merged into FDNY, bringing roughly 3,200 EMS workers, who then responded to about 1.2 million calls a year, into the fire department. The merger was initially contentious, seen by some EMS workers as a hostile takeover and by some firefighters as an unwanted new duty, but an in-house study conducted a few years afterward found that response times and survival rates improved, helped by the department's Certified First Responder program and additional ambulances and EMS stations. FDNY reports the average end-to-end response time to life-threatening medical emergencies was 11 minutes and 21 seconds in fiscal year 2025.
The FDNY commemorates the 30th anniversary of the merger with New York City EMS - NYC.gov, New York City Fire Department Bureau of EMS - Wikipedia