NEW YORK In the first revision of municipal fire codes in 80 years, the New York City Fire Department is proposing that restaurants with the capacity to host 500 or more patrons be required to draft fire safety plans and rules for storing hazardous chemicals.
The fire code revisions will be addressed at a public hearing later this month and the department said it hopes the City Council will pass them next July.
The fire code changes are the result of lessons learned about evacuations and fire safety during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, as well as a 2002 building explosion in New York City and a Rhode Island nightclub fire in 2003.