Rensselaer Fire Department

The Office of Fire Prevention and Control began shortly after World War II as the Division of Fire Safety within the New York State Office for Local Government. Based upon lessons learned from the war, the Division was involved with developing and implementing the statewide mutual aid plan system, adopting statewide emergency radio frequencies and setting up the New York State Fire Training Program. In 2010, The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services was created. The Office of Fire Prevention and Control was placed in DHSES. DHSES provides leadership, coordination and support for efforts to prevent, protect against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorism and other man-made and natural disasters, threats, fires and other emergencies.

The Office of Fire Prevention & Control (OFPC), within DHSES, maintains a list of all municipal and volunteer Fire Departments that is used to ensure compliance with General Municipal Law 204D. This law requires the fire chief to determine the cause of fires and explosions within their district and report those determinations to the Office of Fire Prevention and Control. OFPC also is the primary provider of training to the fire service, along with providing the training OFPC keeps a record of the training provided which is filed by Fire Department Identification Number. Both of these responsibilities require that the OFPC maintain an accurate and up to date list of Fire Departments operating within New York State.

DHSES (OFPC) collects contact information for fire departments across NYS to use for a variety of reasons. The information collected includes all contact information such as fire department name, address, phone numbers, latitude and longitude. Data for fire departments is updated by DHSES staff at the request of the fire department, or the fire department can log directly into an OFPC website and update the address themselves. OFPC will also periodically contact fire departments and ask them to submit the most current information in order to keep the list as current as possible. This dataset includes about 1,700 fire departments in New York State, by New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES). This dataset is limited to the information provided by Fire Departments within New York State. In the case of New York City, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) is considered one entity, headquartered in Brooklyn. Despite many stations throughout the city, only the FDNY headquarters is listed within the dataset. Each department is registered with department ID, department name, locatioin, telephone, etc.

To give New Yorkers the access they deserve to government data and information, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo launched the Open NY initiative in March 2013 and signed Executive Order 95. It directs state agencies to identify, catalog, and publish their data on the state's open data website administered by the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS). Open NY increases transparency, improves government performance, empowers New Yorkers to participate in government, and encourages research and economic opportunities statewide.