Union: Radio Glitch Delayed Yonkers Firefighters

YONKERS, N.Y. – An “unprecedented” breakdown of the Yonkers Fire Department’s radio equipment likely delayed firefighters' response time to a Wednesday afternoon fire by several minutes, the union president said.

The malfunction with the dispatch system didn’t allow fire stations to be notified simultaneously of an afternoon blaze at 68 Crestwood Ave., Yonkers Firefighters Local 628 President Barry McGoey said. Instead, each fire station had to be notified by telephone, a process that caused a “significant delay,” he said.  

A spokesperson for Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said the city has launched an investigation into the communication breakdown. She said it may have been caused by a power surge that knocked out the system almost simultaneously as the dispatch call went out.

"The mayor has called for an immediate investigation into what caused the glitch and the series of events that led to the glitch so it does not happen again,” Spokesperson Christina Gilmartin said, adding calls were placed to the individual fire stations minutes later. 

The union chief, however, was quick to blame the communication mishap on neglect in the upkeep of the decades old equipment, the result of a lack of funding from City Hall.

“Almost every avenue they’re trying to cut every single penny they can and that could have been the reason why we had radio failure,” McGoey said.

While fire and city officials said they were unsure how long, if any, delay in response time resulted of the mishap, McGoey said it likely slowed firefighters down by several minutes. 

“Physically making a phone call wastes time,” he said.  “The radio system speeds up the process and takes human labor, which is time consuming, out,” he said.

By the time firefighters arrived on scene, the house at 68 Crestwood Ave., was fully engulfed with flames, fire officials said.  Crews were able to get the blaze under control just before 4 p.m. but not before it spread to the attic of the home at 70 Crestwood Ave.

While no injuries were reported, McGoey said the property damage may have been less if not for the glitch with the dispatch system. 

“That (68 Crestwood Ave.) house may not have been saved but that house next door probably wouldn’t have been as damaged as it is,” he said.

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