NEW YORK, NY November 19, 2009 —

The firefighters union is blaming the city's new dispatch system for costing them precious minutes responding to a deadly Brooklyn fire. But FDNY officials disagree, saying companies responded near an intersection given by 911 callers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the system that relies on 911 and not FDNY operators.

Bloomberg says average response times have been cut by 20 seconds since the system was put in place six months ago.