Old Army Base New Home For Fire Marshals

By ARI PAUL

The Fire Department opened the new headquarters of the Citywide North Command Dec. 19 in a former U.S. Army building in the Fort Totten section of Queens.

NICHOLAS SCOPPETTA: Marshals `essential.'

The base falls under the jurisdiction of the department's Bureau of Investigations and houses 37 Fire Marshals, eight Supervising Fire Marshals and a Deputy Chief Fire Marshal. The force grew this year with 27 new Fire Marshals and five new Supervising Fire Marshals, the department said. The command is responsible for investigating fires in The Bronx, upper Manhattan and Queens.

'Increases Efficiency'

"Fire Marshals are an essential component in protecting the security of this city, and this new base will allow them to conduct more investigations efficiently," said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. "By uncovering new fire patterns and the causes of the city's most tragic fires, fire marshals have the unique ability to prevent other tragedies from occurring - by giving the answers New Yorkers need to save themselves and their families from the devastation of a fire."

According to an FDNY statement, the "three-story, 12,000 square-foot building contains an interview room, a holding cell, a kitchen, a conference room and office space for Fire Marshals."

In addition to Citywide North Command, there is already the Citywide South Command in Brooklyn, which covers all of Brooklyn and Staten Island in addition to Manhattan below 110th St.