VIDEO: The New Orleans Fire Department is being troubled with what officials are calling an "epidemic" of thefts involving Fire Department Connections, or FDCs, located on commercial buildings in and around the Central Business District and French Quarter.
According to the NOFD, the FDCs allow response crews to connect to the standpipe and sprinkler systems in high-rise buildings and other commercial structures. The NOFD says the missing connections, which are made of brass and presumably sold for scrap, could "possibly delay" or "completely prohibit" crews from supplementing water pressure to a building in the event of a fire-related emergency.
Officials are asking all commercial building managers and maintenance engineers to inspect their buildings' FDCs for missing caps and fittings.