Fire & Emergency Safety

Library users need to know they are safe in DC's public libraries. Neighbors living living adjacent to our public libraries also deserve such measure of safety.

Is DCPL actively seeking to preserve the safety of library users and neighbors to the library?

Given that DC's Fire and Emergency services are facing budget cuts and service cuts, the public has to wonder how DCPL is working with DCFD to make sure safety is a priority for all of it's buildings and planned construction.

• D.C. emergency system still has ways to go, inspector general says

  More than two years after a prominent D.C. journalist was left on an upper Northwest sidewalk to die, the District’s emergency rescue team remains woefully unprepared to deal with citizens’ emergencies, an internal review has found.

• Fire chief, Mendelson trade blame over staffing

  Chief Rubin said Monday that because of budget cuts made by the D.C. Council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, which has oversight of the fire department, he only has the funds to staff two of the six water trucks and with drivers only, instead of full four-person crews.

• Fire Chief & Council Member Again Point Fingers As New Water Report Comes Out

  The mayor lead a press conference to provide the city's final report on a July 29 fire on Chain Bridge Road. The internal report by the city lists nine recommendations on how the DC Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) and the DC Fire & EMS Department can better handle fires at locations in the city where there are small water mains.

• District fire list names 34 trouble spots

  Across the District there are nearly three dozen locations where firefighters anticipate problems with every fire they fight.

• Water Concerns? List Of Neighborhoods Needing Special Attention

  A preliminary report from Mayor Adrian Fenty's office about the fire two weeks ago on Chain Bridge Road mentioned 34 locations identified by the DC Water & Sewer Authority (WASA) and the DC Fire & EMS Department where special attention was needed because of water issues.

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