Structural fire as a social problem: firehouse distribution disparities in New York City

Abstract The victims of severe New York City blazes are most often immigrants, and the worst fires occur in neighborhoods with higher proportions of Black and Latinx residents. While race, socioeconomic status, and foreign-born characteristics have been established as fire risk factors, contemporary disparities in firehouse distribution at the neighborhood level remain an underexplored avenue of research. This study explores the following research question: To what extent are race, ethnicity, class, and foreign-born characteristics reflected in the distribution of firehouses within residential New York City census tracts? Using centroids in combination with census tract data in regression analyses, we find that ethno-racial composition is a significant factor, and that it is intertwined with class. Our analysis indicates that a higher percentage of Black and Asian residents is associated with greater distance to a firehouse and the relationship may be explained by class to a varying degree depending on neighborhood traits. Further, higher median household income is associated with closer proximity to a firehouse in predominantly white neighborhoods only. Overall, the analyses indicate how race relates to the distribution of firehouses in a global city where neighborhoods have been commodified.