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Emergency Response Agency

Fires, injuries, lost persons, wildlife, and spills. Any citizen may serve as an agent.

Photo: The city skyline lit up at night

The Emergency Response Agency protects citizens and their property. Its agents answer emergencies across the city.1

What the ERA responds to

The Agency answers six kinds of emergency:2

  • Structure fires and wildfires
  • Accidental injury or death
  • Lost items, and recovering items after a death
  • Violent wildlife
  • Accidental chemical spills
  • Lost persons

Get help

Request an ERA response. For more on public safety, see Emergencies and public safety.

ERA agents aren’t police. They can detain someone only when it’s absolutely necessary to do their job.1

Serve as an agent

Any citizen can serve as an ERA agent, unless convicted of a Class C or higher crime in the past six months. Agents are paid $10 for every incident they respond to.1

Headquarters

The Agency is headquartered at 3 World Trade Center. When a response will run longer than two full days, agents may set up a temporary headquarters at the scene.1

Sources

  1. 1.City Charter 1 §36
  2. 2.City Charter 1 §36-A

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