Daniel Nigro was named commissioner of the FDNY in 2014, but he has been a firefighter for more than 50 years. Nigro has worked at or witnessed half a century’s worth of the worst fires the city has seen, and he was on the scene of the fire at Twin Parks North West in the Bronx last Sunday. 

Nigro joins In Focus for a one-on-one interview with Cheryl Wills, talking about the very latest on this, the deadliest fire in New York City in the last 30 years. The commissioner talks about the cause of the fire, thought to be a malfunctioning space heater in an apartment that was heated by several space heaters. Beyond that, he says, the blaze was fed by the door in the apartment where the fire started not closing automatically as the family fled for their lives, and as required by the fire codes.

Add to that, he says an open door at the end of the hall on another floor created a deadly draft that pulled the fire up the stairways of all 19 floors of the building. Apart from the latest on this fire, Nigro talks about the need to make sure fire safety is learned and understood by everyone, especially people living in multi-story dwellings. 

And he stresses the mantra we have all heard for years: close the door when you leave an apartment on fire. He talks about how to make sure you are using a space heater that is safe, and what we all need to know about using them properly. He also says it may be time for buildings to review their own fire safety rules.