Relates to the location of fire hydrants

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Steve Rhoads says this is needed

Firefighters throughout New York rely upon physical fire hydrant maps to locate fire hydrants in a time of emergency. This is particularly so when departments are called on mutual aid to areas outside of their normal jurisdiction. When combined with nighttime conditions, poor visi- bility, illegally parked vehicles or blocked hydrants, firefighters can lose valuable time locating a fire hydrant or hydrants in proximity to the incident location. This legislation would mandate the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control to create an electronic database of fire hydrant locations statewide and would require public and private hydrant service providers to upload precise latitude and longitude coordinates of all hydrants within their jurisdiction updated after every maintenance cycle. The information can then be exported as a CSV file and can be used by individual fire departments with GPS location services from a phone, tablet or other device to facilitate the quick and precise iden- tification and location of hydrants in the area of an alarm. When seconds count in a fire scenario, the ability to quickly and effi- ciently locate and establish a stable water supply is critical in protecting firefighters as well as the lives and property of the commu- nities they serve.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.