GOD BLESS THE REGULATORS:

Record low fire deaths (JOHN DOYLE and BILL SANDERSON, December 2, 2010, NY Post)

The city is on pace for a record low number of fire deaths this year, and FDNY officials are crediting swifter response times, authorities said.

Just 56 people have died in fires so far in 2010 -- an 18 percent drop from the same period in 2009.

And last year was already record low year for fire fatalities, with just 73 deaths.

The 2009 tally was four fewer than the previous record years of 1919 and 2006. In both of those years, the city had 77 fire deaths.

Mandatory smoke detectors, fire alarms and sprinkler systems are annoying, but human.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 4, 2010 6:54 PM