Budworth sent me this thru Deadspin....amazing story
FDNY: 6 die on typical NASCAR weekend
Track manager disputes report, saying last death was heart attack in 2005
Friday, September 08, 2006
By SALLY GOLDENBERG
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Six people on average die while attending a NASCAR race weekend, the FDNY said at a hearing with Staten Island community boards yesterday.
The deaths are put down to such causes as heart attacks, fires, injuries and auto accidents in and around the tracks.
Fire brass came up with the sobering statistic after an FDNY committee interviewed fire departments in the places where NASCAR developer International Speedway Corp. owns tracks.
"That was a statistic that we found just astonishing," Island Fire Chief Thomas Haring said during the meeting yesterday, at which the three community boards got progress reports from several city agencies. Haring was responding to questions from community board officials about NASCAR and other fire issues during the hearing in Willowbrook.
"I think their 'six' needs some more in-depth research, because I wouldn't lay claim to that at all," Michael Printup, ISC track manager on the Island, told the Advance. "The last time I heard of a death was the year I left Michigan, so June of 2005 there was a death, and what happened was that guy had a heart attack late at night."
Printup also said that two FDNY officials, whom he would not name, traveled with ISC to its flagship track in Daytona, Fla., and were impressed by the traffic flow and safety measures in place.
The FDNY's statistic was not based solely on the number of deaths during a Sunday race. In most cases, a "race weekend" begins on a Thursday or Friday, as out-of-town racing fans arrive in RVs for pre-race parties. Then spectators usually watch a series of early races that determine the lineup for Sunday's main event.
FIRE DEPT. REPORT
The committee produced a report of its findings earlier this year. Despite a Freedom of Information law request made by the Advance nearly two months ago, the FDNY refused to release a copy.
During yesterday's meeting, Haring said the FDNY is "trying to make sure that when and if the questions come, we're prepared."
At his behest, the fire committee began in October to research the safety implications of ISC's plan to build an 80,000-seat racetrack which, all told, would accommodate more than 90,000 people during its three race weekends each year. The members studied staffing levels, necessary equipment, traffic, response routes and patterns, and hazardous material and terrorism concerns during races, an FDNY source said.
The stadium would be built alongside a proposed 620,000-square foot retail complex in Bloomfield. The mall would be open year-round.
Kathy Dodd, district manager of Community Board 2, said she was "surprised" by the statistics on deaths but is reserving judgment on the track's fate until the board makes its official recommendation on the project.
Haring said the FDNY also is worried about race traffic delaying emergency response throughout the Island.
But he emphasized that the department will not take a position on whether the track should be built.
TRACK'S IMPACT
"How is [the track] going to affect South Beach, New Dorp, Grant City, Tottenville?" asked one borough fire official, speaking anonymously because of department neutrality. "If we have a fire in Tottenville, how are we going to get our people down there?"
He compared the proposed raceway to ISC's other tracks, which were built in sparsely populated areas where traffic is not a daily problem. Besides Daytona, ISC has raceways in the following sites: Fontana, Calif.; Joliet, Ill.; Darlington, S.C.; Homestead, Fla.; Kansas City, Kan.; Martinsville, Va.; Richmond, Va.; Talladega, Ala.; Watkins Glen, N.Y.; Brooklyn, Mich.; Avondale, Ariz. The FDNY committee surveyed fire chiefs from the majority of these towns and cities.
The official also expressed concern about the ISC plan to get tens of thousands of people to the track via a fleet of 83 ferries. "No place else is going to put 80 ferries. Eighty ferries is an issue for us," he said.
The City Council ultimately will decide on the speedway, though that vote will not be cast until the latter half of 2007, at the earliest.
"It's an aspect of this track that hasn't been discussed, and that is: The demand on essential services," said City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn), whose district would house the track. He staunchly opposes the raceway plan.
"We already know that we need additional services. When you inject 95,000 more people on Staten Island, there's a drain on those already insufficient police and fire services," he said.
FDNY: 6 die on typical NASCAR weekend
Track manager disputes report, saying last death was heart attack in 2005
Friday, September 08, 2006
By SALLY GOLDENBERG
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Six people on average die while attending a NASCAR race weekend, the FDNY said at a hearing with Staten Island community boards yesterday.
The deaths are put down to such causes as heart attacks, fires, injuries and auto accidents in and around the tracks.
Fire brass came up with the sobering statistic after an FDNY committee interviewed fire departments in the places where NASCAR developer International Speedway Corp. owns tracks.
"That was a statistic that we found just astonishing," Island Fire Chief Thomas Haring said during the meeting yesterday, at which the three community boards got progress reports from several city agencies. Haring was responding to questions from community board officials about NASCAR and other fire issues during the hearing in Willowbrook.
"I think their 'six' needs some more in-depth research, because I wouldn't lay claim to that at all," Michael Printup, ISC track manager on the Island, told the Advance. "The last time I heard of a death was the year I left Michigan, so June of 2005 there was a death, and what happened was that guy had a heart attack late at night."
Printup also said that two FDNY officials, whom he would not name, traveled with ISC to its flagship track in Daytona, Fla., and were impressed by the traffic flow and safety measures in place.
The FDNY's statistic was not based solely on the number of deaths during a Sunday race. In most cases, a "race weekend" begins on a Thursday or Friday, as out-of-town racing fans arrive in RVs for pre-race parties. Then spectators usually watch a series of early races that determine the lineup for Sunday's main event.
FIRE DEPT. REPORT
The committee produced a report of its findings earlier this year. Despite a Freedom of Information law request made by the Advance nearly two months ago, the FDNY refused to release a copy.
During yesterday's meeting, Haring said the FDNY is "trying to make sure that when and if the questions come, we're prepared."
At his behest, the fire committee began in October to research the safety implications of ISC's plan to build an 80,000-seat racetrack which, all told, would accommodate more than 90,000 people during its three race weekends each year. The members studied staffing levels, necessary equipment, traffic, response routes and patterns, and hazardous material and terrorism concerns during races, an FDNY source said.
The stadium would be built alongside a proposed 620,000-square foot retail complex in Bloomfield. The mall would be open year-round.
Kathy Dodd, district manager of Community Board 2, said she was "surprised" by the statistics on deaths but is reserving judgment on the track's fate until the board makes its official recommendation on the project.
Haring said the FDNY also is worried about race traffic delaying emergency response throughout the Island.
But he emphasized that the department will not take a position on whether the track should be built.
TRACK'S IMPACT
"How is [the track] going to affect South Beach, New Dorp, Grant City, Tottenville?" asked one borough fire official, speaking anonymously because of department neutrality. "If we have a fire in Tottenville, how are we going to get our people down there?"
He compared the proposed raceway to ISC's other tracks, which were built in sparsely populated areas where traffic is not a daily problem. Besides Daytona, ISC has raceways in the following sites: Fontana, Calif.; Joliet, Ill.; Darlington, S.C.; Homestead, Fla.; Kansas City, Kan.; Martinsville, Va.; Richmond, Va.; Talladega, Ala.; Watkins Glen, N.Y.; Brooklyn, Mich.; Avondale, Ariz. The FDNY committee surveyed fire chiefs from the majority of these towns and cities.
The official also expressed concern about the ISC plan to get tens of thousands of people to the track via a fleet of 83 ferries. "No place else is going to put 80 ferries. Eighty ferries is an issue for us," he said.
The City Council ultimately will decide on the speedway, though that vote will not be cast until the latter half of 2007, at the earliest.
"It's an aspect of this track that hasn't been discussed, and that is: The demand on essential services," said City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn), whose district would house the track. He staunchly opposes the raceway plan.
"We already know that we need additional services. When you inject 95,000 more people on Staten Island, there's a drain on those already insufficient police and fire services," he said.
