Saratoga Casino Hotel is among the racetrack facilities across New York implementing fire safety provisions in response to directives issued by the New York State Gaming Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The gaming commission conducted a statewide racetrack fire safety review<\/a> after a June 16 blaze killed 17 horses<\/a> in a barn located at the casino’s harness track in Saratoga Springs. The commission said that a week after the fire, it demanded all tracks immediately install functioning smoke, fire and heat alarms in all barns, and provide staffing to react to activated alarms.<\/p>\n “We have a moral imperative to safeguard these animals. There is no excuse to delay inexpensive, immediate steps while permanent, long-term regulatory changes are considered,” Commissioner Marty Mack said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n A state Gaming Commission panel is reviewing the circumstances of the fire in Saratoga, as well as fire prevention and emergency protocols at horse barns at New York’s 11 racetracks. It says all tracks operate in compliance with local municipal building and fire codes, but that is insufficient to protect horses because many barns are without functioning fire alarms.<\/p>\n “Track operators were asked to promptly respond whether their barns have or are being fit with functioning smoke, fire, and heat alarms. Initial responses indicate significant industry mobilization, though critical gaps remain,” the state Gaming Commission said.<\/p>\n The commission shared some of the review’s findings:\u00a0<\/p>\n Saratoga Casino Hotel is installing 12 alarms in each barn, totaling 350 “Batavia Downs officials\u2019 response did not readily address immediate smoke, fire and heat alarm detection device installation plans, but instead detailed barriers to large-scale infrastructure changes,” the commission said. “The Commission immediately followed up seeking the missing information, directing Batavia to implement stop-gap human monitoring protocols, and stipulating that long-term upgrade costs do not excuse a lack of short-term safety measures.”<\/p>\n Racetrack operators in New York have been ordered to provide updates and additional information regarding fire safety to the commission by July 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saratoga Casino Hotel is among the racetrack facilities across New York implementing fire safety provisions in response to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13933,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,108,87,319],"class_list":["post-284029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-dennis-yusko","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news","tag-ny-state-of-politics-blog","tag-politics","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFinger Lakes Racetrack is installing eight smoke and heat detectors in each barn, totaling 84
\nMonticello Raceway is installing six additional smoke detectors and four fire extinguishers in each barn
\nBuffalo Raceway had difficulty installing 120 planned detectors before its meet ends this month, so the gaming commission “is reviewing human-patrol mandates for this interim period”
\nBelmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs have functional heat\/smoke detection networks linked to security and\/or local emergency services
\nYonkers Raceway at Empire City Casino\u2019s barns are equipped with manual alarms linked to security and local fire services, as well as fire extinguishers. Smoke and fire alarms are expected to be installed this week.<\/p>\n