Bx. horror stirs Council push for bldg. fire safety

The City Council moved a step closer to enacting more strict fire safety rules Wednesday in response to a Bronx fire that killed 17 people earlier this year.

The Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee passed a bill that would require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to pick 300 buildings each year to be inspected to ensure self-closing doors are in working condition.

The bill would also require that HPD and the Fire Department increase interagency coordination and data-sharing when it comes to the respective inspections they perform.

“Oftentimes government isn’t proactive,” said City Councilwoman Nantasha Williams (D-Queens), the bill’s primary sponsor. “This is our attempt to be more proactive and to get agencies to communicate more effectively.”

In January, a horrific inferno (photo) tore through the high-rise Twin Parks apartment complex in the Bronx after a defective space heater ignited and two malfunctioning self-closing doors allowed smoke to spread through the rest of the building. Seventeen people, including eight kids, died in the fire, which is the deadliest in the city since a blaze at the Happy Land nightclub in the Bronx killed 87 people in 1990.

Since the Twin Parks inferno, lawmakers have pushed several measures to prevent similar tragedies.

In March, Bronx-raised Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Fire Administration to assist local departments with investigations after major fires. He and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are also pushing legislation that would improve data collection for federal fire probes and mandate all space heaters automatically shut off.

In May, the Council voted to strengthen enforcement when it comes to self-closing doors and outlaw space heaters without an automatic shutoff feature.

The Council’s most recent bill passed the Housing and Building Committee on Tuesday with a 9-to-0 vote.