Caller, employee may share blame for dispatch

The director of Bedford County Communications Center stated that the discrepancy over the location of a fire in Unionville Friday was due to confusion over the name of a road, both by a 911 caller and a dispatcher.

Firefighters were called to the blaze, allegedly caused by arson, Friday morning. Outraged neighbors told the T-G at the scene that the home could have been saved if personnel were sent to the correct location.

The T-G heard the incorrect location given out on fire frequencies Friday morning when the blaze was first reported. Law enforcement officials, as well as a member of Volunteer Fire Services Inc., also confirmed Friday that the wrong address for the blaze was given.

Communications Director Cathey Mathis explained that the 911 caller told the dispatcher "that the fire was on Crawell Road (this is how she pronounced it)."

"The dispatcher asked her if it was Crowell Road and she [the 911 caller] said yes," Mathis said. "The dispatcher paged the call out as Crowell Road. Station 1 Unit 201 asked if it was Virgil Crowell Road and she told him yes.

"We should have told him at that time that the caller said Crowell Road, but the dispatcher didn't."

Mathis said that it was at this point that "the dispatchers start to second guess themselves due to multiple roads with similar names."

"For your information, James Crowell Road is sometimes called Crowell Road and of all the maps that we have, there is not a James Crowell Road listed. We also have a Virgil Crowell Road and they both turn off of Halls Mill Road," Mathis explained.

She added that this has been an ongoing issue. Until the last two or three years, "the 911 Center had no involvement with road names. We now have input in those decisions."

According to the call logs provided to the T-G by Mathis, the time of the 911 call was at 7:56 a.m., with the call dispatched at 7:57. Station 1, Unit 201 and Station 1, Unit 212 were both enroute at 7:59.

However, at 8:02, Fireman 2116 advised all units that the fire was on James Crowell Road. Station 2, Unit 221 was then enroute at 8:03, one minute after Unit 2116 said that the fire was on James Crowell Road.

Station 2, Unit 221 was on the scene at 8:03 a.m. and three minutes later, Station 2 Unit 224 was en route. Station 2, Unit 224 arrived on the scene at 8:07, followed by Station 1, Unit 201 at 8:11, Station 1, Unit 212 arriving at 8:12 and Station 7, Bell Buckle Unit 271 getting to the fire at 8:26 a.m.

"So, from the time of the first initial dispatch, one unit was on the scene in 6 minutes," Mathis said. "If you will notice that Station 2, which is the Unionville Station, was not en route until unit 2116 advised that the fire was on James Crowell Road."

Mathis said that there would not been any difference in response times regardless of the location.

"Once someone arrived at Station 2 and checked en route, they were on scene. Of course, Station 2 did not respond until after the location was known."