TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Wrong 911 Address Delays Firemen

Wrong 911 Address Delays Firemen

TELECOM Digest Editor (ptownson@telecom-digest.org)
Wed, 15 Dec 2004 18:46:54 EST

NEW YORK - AP via Independence Reporter, Wednesday, December 15 -

A fire in a six-story apartment building early Wednesday, killed one
person and injured 31 others, and Mayor Bloomberg said firefighters
were delayed because the caller reporting the fire gave the wrong
address.

Six civilians were in critical condition fllowing their rescue, three
of them children. In addition, six firefighers, and five police
officers were injured. A candle in a second floor apartment appeared
to be the cause of the fire, and the fire quickly spread through the
entire second and third floor of the building, in Jackson Heights,
Queens.

Mayor Bloomberg said someone called 911 and gave the wrong address of
building. Firefighters went to the wrong address, discovered the
error, then immediatly went to the correct address, causing in total
a two or three minute delay in reaching the place they should have
been. By then, the fire was spreading quickly, and police officers
were called to assist in evacuating the building. The temperature was
in the upper teens or low twenties.

===================================

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As sad as this event is, *nothing*
was said about the call to 911 going over VOIP, rather than the
more usual transport for calls to 911, nor was it explained who the
'someone' was that gave an incorrect address to the dispatcher. Maybe
one of our NYC readers can provide more background on this. PAT]

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com: "Identify Theft Victim Falsely Charged"
Go to Previous message: William Warren: "Re: Strange Wireless Problem"
Next in thread: John Levine: "Re: Wrong 911 Address Delays Firemen"
May be reply: John Levine: "Re: Wrong 911 Address Delays Firemen"
May be reply: Mark Atwood: "Re: Wrong 911 Address Delays Firemen"
May be reply: Thor Lancelot Simon: "Re: Wrong 911 Address Delays Firemen"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page