NEW YORK, NY September 26, 2006 —A new $17 million Fire Department Command Center is helping officials collect information from more sources than ever before and share it with firefighters and other first responders.

When an Upper East Side townhouse was blown up in July, first responders arrived at a pile of rubble. The FDNY’s database, with images of every building in the city, helped them figure out what had been there, and where they should look for survivors. That was possible because of the new center, which has been running since June but was only unveiled to the public yesterday.

The nerve hub pools information from various sources in a way that was never possible before. FDNY officials say it will also help unify communication with the Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management. Critics say despite improvements in recent years, the different agencies still have trouble coordinating responses in the field.