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Firefighters are taking longer to respond to emergency calls in areas where six fire companies closed this year, but the Fire Department said that most of the response times are still faster than the citywide average. At a City Council hearing, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said that the time it takes emergency workers to get to an accident or fire increased by an average of 33 seconds since June. Four of the six engine companies still get to a scene in less than the average time of 4 minutes 48 seconds, but in Cobble Hill in Brooklyn and Long Island City in Queens, averages are now 5 minutes 25 seconds. The commissioner also defended statistics released in August, saying that the numbers were based on computer models and did not reflect actual response times. City Council members and firefighter unions accused the department of misleading the public. In June, six fire engine companies were closed in an effort to save $8 million in the city budget.
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