NYPD policy revised; officers should take stairs in fire

NEW YORK

They'll now require officers responding to structures on fire to take the stairs.

Deputy Chief Kim Royster said Friday an internal memo detailing the preliminary guidelines has been distributed to precincts.

Royster says the new protocol replaces a memo distributed April 9. It had instructed officers to use the elevator.

She says the change came after consulting with fire officials in the wake of Officer Dennis Guerra's death.

Guerra was overcome by smoke and carbon dioxide as he got off the elevator on the 13th floor of a Brooklyn building on April 6.

He died three days later.

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