FDNY deployed robotic Dalmatian dog to survey unstable collapsed parking garage in Manhattan
LOWER MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- Exactly one week after New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD reintroduced robotic police dogs, one of the FDNY's gadget hounds was in action at the scene of the deadly parking collapse in Lower Manhattan.
"Thank God we had the robotic dog that was able to go in the building," Adams said. "This is ideally what we talk about, not seeing a human being inside a building as unstable."
The FDNY used a Dalmatian robot dog to help survey the area as well as drones to get an aerial view of the building.
"Our robotics unit happened to be nearby. They were on scene very quickly," FDNY Chief of Operations John Esposito said. "They were able to give us a video inside and then we're able to fly drones inside to conduct an assessment and conduct searches."
One person died, and at least five others were injured after a parking garage next to a Pace University building partially collapsed in Lower Manhattan.
The robots were crucial in keeping first responders safe.
"They're able to stream, and stream the video directly to all phones directly to our command center," Esposito said. "This is the first time that we've been able to fly inside in a collapse to do this and try to get us some information again without risking the lives of firefighters."
The parking garage, owned by 57 Ann Street Realty Association, had dozens of parking violations dating back decades.
The uppers levels of the three-story garage collapsed around 4:15pm on Tuesday.
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