NEW YORK (AP) – New York’s fire commissioner promised Friday to bolster a treatment plan for firefighters suffering from Sept. 11-related illnesses – estimating such care will cost tens of millions of dollars.

“We will do everything in our power to get the money to monitor and treat this group of people affected by 9/11,” Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told The Associated Press. He spoke after releasing a two-year strategic plan for the Fire Department of New York.

To date, the department’s health services have screened and treated almost 14,000 people involved in the rescue and recovery efforts, Scoppetta said. He said the FDNY is tapping into $50 million in federal funding that should last through 2009 for such medical costs.

But that’s not enough, he said. “We will need much more money – tens of millions – for the treatment of both our active and retired members,” the commissioner said.

He said special attention must be paid to firefighters forced to retire after Sept. 11, 2001, who “are learning, five years later, that they are developing problems and their insurance is inadequate.”

The two-year plan provides free medical examinations and treatment, as well as access to medications for conditions such as asthma. The fire commissioner said he will join the New York congressional delegation in asking the federal government for more money.

President Bush has proposed an additional $25 million in federal funds for a health care program for Sept. 11 responders. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has called for $1.9 billion over several years.

“I’m optimistic about this,” Scoppetta said.

The department’s newly released strategic plan includes initiatives to improve emergency response operations, strengthen training and increase diversity.

Since August, the average ambulance response time to life-threatening calls has been cut by 28 seconds – to 61/2 minutes, Scoppetta said, attributing the progress to the satellite-linked tracking devices installed in each of 617 ambulances.

Before 1996, when the FDNY absorbed the Emergency Medical Services, the average response time was about 81/2 minutes.

By the end of the year, all of the department’s fire engines will also be equipped with the satellite trackers, Scoppetta said.

The department also plans to increase training time for its probationary firefighters – from 13 weeks to 23 weeks – and to teach more building-inspection skills, Scoppetta said.

New FDNY recruits are likely to change the profile of a 11,500-strong department that is about 90 percent white and male, Scoppetta said.

Of nearly 22,000 firefighter applicants who took the FDNY exam on Jan. 20, about 38 percent represented minorities – compared to about 16 percent the last time the exam was given four years ago, he said.

The federal government has been investigating the FDNY for possible discrimination in its hiring practices. The department has announced changes in eligibility and an aggressive recruiting drive intended to boost diversity.