FDNY pushes seminars on fire safety after tragedy in Bronx left 17 people dead

More than a dozen FDNY fire safety seminars are planned at schools and community centers in the Bronx in the wake of a smoky blaze that killed 17 people at a Fordham Heights high-rise, department officials said Saturday.

In the week since the fatal fire — the city’s deadliest since a 1990 blaze killed 87 at the Bronx’s Happy Land Social Club — the FDNY has been making a broad outreach effort to distribute fire safety information.

The FDNY also put together a minutelong public service announcement streaming on the department social media platforms with scenes of the damage the fire left at the Twin Parks North West building on E. 181st St. near Tiebout Ave.

The fire is blamed on a space heater a tenant had left running for days. Smoke from the blaze also spread because a self-closing door to the apartment was broken and the smoke was allowed to escape.

Fire safety experts say landlords should help firefighters spread this important information, especially if they know tenants are supplementing their heat with portable space heaters.

“Building management should be saying, ‘Hey, folks, if you’re buying space heaters you should get the modern ones and learn how to use them properly,’ ” said Glenn Corbett, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

In Sunday’s blaze, more than 30 people were rushed to area hospitals with life-threatening injuries. All 17 of the dead — who included eight children — died of smoke inhalation, a spokeswoman for the city’s medical examiner said.

Within hours of the blaze, FDNY fire safety educators were in the community offering fire safety advice, said department spokesman Frank Dwyer.

“We do what we have always done,” Dwyer said. “Every time we have a fatal fire, our fire safety education teams are out there as soon as possible with flyers and smoke detectors to talk about fire safety. We do this religiously and we have a very strong fire education safety program.”

The FDNY is engaging with any community organization that can help spread the word.

“We are 100% ready to meet with every single group we can to get the info in their hands,” the spokesman said.

Fire safety specialist Prabodh Panindre, a research scientist and faculty member at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, said more education is necessary.

“I think when you get a portable heater you open the box, get it ready to be used, and throw that instruction sheet in the garbage,” Panindre said. “You really need to educate people how to use this equipment safely.”

Printable flyers for landlords and more fire safety information can be found at the department’s FDNY Smart webpage.