Citizen Alerted Me to a Fire In My Own Building
The notification I saw instantly brought me out of the hazy fog of sleep: this was my address.
This is a guest post by Citizen user Dan Humphrey. Citizen is designed to keep the public safe and informed of emergency events in real-time. If Citizen has helped keep you safe, we want to hear your story!
I remember the soft pitter-pattering of rain on my window air-conditioning unit — a sound all too familiar to New Yorkers on clammy, fall nights — when I woke up around 4 A.M.
There was a smell of smoke as I got out of bed, grabbed my cell phone and headed to the bathroom. As I walked down the hall toward the other end of my apartment, careful not to wake my friend sleeping on the couch, I cleared my eyes and looked down at my phone.
The notification I saw instantly brought me out of the hazy fog of sleep:
CITIZEN: REPORT OF APARTMENT FIRE AT 385 FORT WASHINGTON AVE.
I took a breath and looked down at the app again to confirm: this was my address.
Feeling through the darkness, I walked to my front door, checked the doorknob for warmth with the back of my hand, and opened it without any idea of what I might see.
No alarms ringing, no lights flashing; the only thing unusual in the hallway was a woman standing there, just as confused as I. “Is there a fire in the building?” she asked. “I think so, I just received a notification from the Citizen app.
We looked around the corner to find a member of FDNY hurling foot after foot of fire hose up the stairwell. “Is there a fire?” I asked the FDNY officer, in a state of constant motion. She either didn’t hear me, or didn’t have time to respond. It certainly didn’t seem like a drill.
I looked down at Citizen for an update and saw that the fire department had escalated the fire, dispatched more trucks and was sending more firefighters. At this point, I knew I had to get both my sleeping girlfriend and friend on the couch out of my apartment and evacuate the building ASAP.
As the three of us were walking out of the building, FDNY members were charging into it. Exiting, my girlfriend looked up and saw flames shooting out of two windows on one of the top floors.
Thankfully, the members of FDNY were able to expertly contain the fire to just two units, sparing much of the building major fire and water damage.
It’s tough to say how much worse things could have been without the professionals at FDNY and the prompt notifications from the team at Citizen.
This story has been picked up by the NY Post.
Citizen instantly sends safety alerts directly to your phone whenever significant crime or emergencies happen near you.
