By Ginger Adams Otis and Philip Messing
The New York Post
NEW YORK — The Fire Department is about to roll out a new dispatch system that officials say will cut response time across the city — but rank-and-file firefighters fear it may wind up becoming a dangerous boondoggle.
The system — which was launched in The Bronx Friday — led to a mix-up Monday. Three companies were sent to a Hunts Point house from up to two miles away, while dispatchers failed to call a firehouse just blocks from the scene.
Two people were injured but there was no way to determine if the delay played a role.
"People are going to die because of this," said firefighter Eddie Brown, a union representative and member of Ladder 48, which was the closest to the fire.
He said his Hunts Point firehouse didn't learn of the blaze until it was over.
The Fire Department — which plans to initiate the new system across the city on June 1 — admitted a mistake was made.
"It was human error that will be rectified by training," said FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon.
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