Click here for STATter911.com’s previous coverage of this story and to read DeKalb County report
Captain Sell Caldwell is the fifth member of the fire department in DeKalb County, Georgia to be fired over the January 24 fire that took the life of 74-year-old Ann Bartlett. The impact of the error filled response, detailed in a county report, also resulted in the immediate resignation of Chief David Foster earlier this week.
The video above includes some of the radio transmissions for both the initial response to Bartlett’s home and the response of firefighters five hours later when her home had already been destroyed. Bartlett’s body was recovered from the rubble.
A police investigation continues to see if there were any criminal violations in the actions taken by responding firefighters.
Also on STATter911 …
- Another shake up in DeKalb County, Georgia. Demotions & a retirement as ice storm drinking probe wraps up. – February 16, 2011
- Fire & police radio traffic from scene of firefighter shot in Bellmore, New York. – March 2, 2011
- UPDATE: Surveillance camera video of San Bruno explosion. Listen to fire department radio traffic. – September 13, 2010
- Who saves these guys when they get into trouble? Would you be ready for a rescue from a 1768-foot transmission tower? – December 5, 2010
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Seems there is more involved than just Firefighters…The dispatcher called fire dept with a house on fire…WHERE IS IT?…NO CALL BACK NUMBER…AND NO FUTHER INFORMATION…I guess we Firefighters need to check every single house…wake everyone with a loud speaker because Firefighters can’t get proper info and/or needed information to do the job. COME ON… witch house do you look at if you don’t have an address and no smoke showing and no call back number to get an address.
The Dispatcher should have already had that information for the fire dept…YA THINK!…if she was being robbed…would it have turned out the same way for the police dept…or EMS?
What in the world were they thinking? And why, did they not attempt to make contact with the homeowner? I don’t care that they couldn’t see anything in the area, they had an actual physical address, and a caller at that address. They should have been in direct physical/visual contact with her before returning to service.
They had an address, you have to knock on the door.
Here’s an earth shattering concept all you make believe firefighters … when you are given an address, you MUST get off your fat butt and actually walk up to the door and knock if there is no obvious sign of fire. You also need to have personnel do a 360 of the structure to look for signs of fire. In addition, have the dispatcher try the callback #. There is no room in the fire service for lazy, slow witted under achievers. The job is life and death and there is never a good time to let your guard down.
They needed to get out of the trucks. They had an address, so go to the door and knock. If she just made the call she was awake. Im not sure about the neighbors but if I got a knock on my door at 1 AM and a fireman said he is checking if we called in a fire, (being a firefighter myself) I would listen to the man. These guys didnt do their job. I do not want to say anyting bad about these guys but they failed on this call.
Come on people we need to pay attention and do our job. That job is to protect our citizens.We had a similar call a few weeks ago where we had a caller with a smell of smoke. We arrived on scene to find nothing, Just a hint of a smoke smell in the 5 degree air.We did our 360 and nothing.We used the TIC and nothing.I sent my guys to the attic space and had we left we would have come back to 6 dead tenants because a light had shorted out under the cellulose insulation and we found it. Don’t get complacent people. Your citizens are worth the extra effort. It may not be another B…S… call.
Excuse me, “afirefighter,” they had the address. There was no need to “check every single house.” They responded and didn’t see the fire FROM THE ROAD, so they didn’t go up the driveway. Mrs. Bartlett was 74 years old. The phone died while she was talking to the dispatcher…before it died, she told them that her house was on fire, gave them her full address, and said hurry. The fire knocked out the electricity, ending the call, and that’s why there was no call back.
Geez man, eventhough they didn’t see a fire, they could have atleast gone up to her house to get a visual and make sure she was ok. Even the dispatcher called one of the fireman personally, and said she felt it was a valid fire.
Imagine if you will, Mrs Bartlett’s last moments…she calls 911 because her house is on fire; sees firetrucks pull up; thinks she is now safe and about to be rescued; then they drive off and leave….how terrible!!
AND in response to your last comment….She wasn’t being robbed. She was dying in a house fire!!! Yes, dying in a house fire!!! DO NOT compare that to being robbed!!!
Do you think that Mrs. Bartlett should be some what responsible. If you have a fire GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. Firefighters risk their lives everyday for you and me and this is the gratitude that you give them. Everyone has to have some responsibility for their own actions and quit blaming others for your issues. Have you ever made a mistake on the job or elsewhere? Yes you have.
If a resident calls in a structure fire from inside the residence, with a clear and confirmed address,and the fire dept arrives on scene and receive no answer @ the door, you start police to the location and force entry. Accountability and responsibilty of repairs if forced entry is in error could easily be monetarily corrected…..not entering leaves a life gone.
To: friend of firefighters- Now your putting blame on the victim of the fire. you my friend are an imbicile.
For your information she was 74 years of age, panicked, possible not in perfect condition sice she was on home oxygen. there is a good possiblity that she could have fallen while trying to get out of the house. they found her lying supine against the garage door where perhaps the automatic opener didnt work so with smoke continuing to build thinks that she can perhaps lift it or that she will be rescued shortly by the firefighters that are only less than 3 miles from her driveway.
think about that … bottom line is in public safety if you gety complacent people get injured or die.
Just a suggestion. If one reads the incident report, one would get a much better understanding of what happened here. I read in that report that there was a mailbox numbered 1686, next to that a mailbox with no number, and next to that non-numbered box was a mailbox numbered 1691.
I graduated from public school, and even I know that 1687 is between 1686 and 1691. Maybe that non-numbered mailbox was 1687?
The responding firefighters didn’t follow their procedures or do what they were trained to do.