For the first time in city history, the FDNY issued a criminal summons to a vehicle owner who illegally blocked a fire hydrant that hampered firefighters’ efforts to put out a deadly blaze.
The unnamed driver was fined $4,000 for parking a red sedan on Feb. 12 in front of a hydrant outside a Buddhist temple complex on Anthony Avenue in Tremont, where a fire erupted. The vehicle obstructed firefighters’ access to the site.
The fire, sparked by a space heater, claimed the lives of two people—a monk and a temple visitor. Fire officials said the closest hydrant was blocked by the illegally parked car, forcing firefighters to snake a hose around several vehicles to reach another water source on the densely packed street.
Unlike the standard $115 parking ticket for blocking a hydrant, the penalty falls under Section 507.5.4 of the New York City Fire Code, which makes it illegal to render fire hydrants inaccessible or inoperable.
The Feb. 12 blaze was the second incident in three days where firefighters were obstructed by illegally parked cars. Two cars blocked two fire hydrants near a fatal fire on Feb. 9 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
New York City law prohibits parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant. Residents can report blocked hydrants to 311.
