Fireground audio
Transcript of fireground radio traffic
Transcript of Sandy Hill’s call to 911
Read the entire article
An investigation is underway after firefighters in Spotsylvania County, Virginia failed to find a woman who was on the phone, trapped in her house, while firefighters were inside searching. It apparently took repeated attempts and more than 20 minutes before firefighters finally found 43-year-old Sandy Hill on February 5.
Firefighters were able to rescue another person trapped in the fire. According to Dan Telvock with the Frederickburg Free Lance-Star, Hill was on the second floor of the 2000 square foor, four bedroom, Cape Cod. The paper has the fireground audio, audio of part of Sandy Hill’s conversation with 911 and transcripts of her calls.
Here is an excerpt from Telvock’s article:
Carl Maurice, a Spotsylvania resident who spent 32 years with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, is the only expert who listened to the recordings and also viewed the exterior of the house.
“If someone presented this scenario to me in theory, I would have expected the victim to survive,” Maurice said. “The question everyone has to ask is ‘Why didn’t she?’”
Kevin Dillard, the administrative chief and spokesman of Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, initially sent an e-mail a few hours after the fire praising the 45 volunteers involved for an “awesome job.”
But this week, after learning more about the response, Dillard said he thinks an investigation is warranted.
Dillard said he knew few details when he sent the e-mail. Only after after some volunteers criticized the response two weeks ago did he begin to realize “serious” problems related to the response, he said.
For example, thermal imaging cameras that could have helped locate Hill and the teenager were available at the scene but were not used.
Dillard said a ladder was never deployed to Hill’s bedroom windows, and the crews seemed to be confused with the layout of the house and where Hill was trapped.
Dillard said ventilating the house to remove smoke came late in the process because there was a delay in announcing that the fire had been extinguished.
This incident seems to have a lot of similarities to a fire in Fairfax County in May, 2007 where firefighters were unable to find 49-year-old Debra Chiles on the top floor of her small townhouse. Chiles was in the bathroom on the phone with 911 as firefighters pulled up to battle a kitchen fire. The acting chief of the department admitted at the time that Chiles should have been found.
Also on STATter911 …
- UPDATE: Second Spotsylvania Co. firefighter charged with sex crime. Sheriff says Chancellor volunteer also used FD vehicle. Department promises ‘drastic changes’. – May 24, 2011
- Video & fireground audio: House burns twice in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. – November 28, 2011
- Early video & fireground audio: House fire in Rochester, New York. Hot wire on ground. – June 4, 2011
- ‘Get off the roof!’ Interesting audio from Sacramento fire with a report of people trapped as command orders a switch to defensive operations. – December 28, 2011
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Theres nothing to see here move along…move along.
Lemme guess Kevin will find that the stipend earning volunteers were inadequately TRAINED, and staffed. His solution more money toward volunteer recruitment and retention. Someone please sue the pants off these guys.
Poor very poor.Even if these guys were volunteer or career in other departments it does not matter, they are professionals no matter what there status is. These guys did a poor job a searching.If the dispatcher can hear you banging on a door and then you say nothing is found you evidently did not do something right.Poor communications between fire attack and command as to a knock down on the fire so ventilation could be started or either your outside vent guys was no skilled enough to know when to start it on their own.Opening the place up and get the smoke out and do a good detailed primary and secondary search.
When there’s a report of people trapped, the priorities should be: #1 get the first line in service to protect the victims and the search effort. #2 get a search team, equipped with a TIC, in the building to search the bedrooms and the pathways out. #3 get an outside vent (OV) team to Vent, Enter, and Search (VES) the bedrooms via portable ladders.
FDs need to aggressively attempt to rescue known victims via a two (or more) pronged effort.
Training and tactics, pretty simple. They have plenty of nice t-shirts though. Isn’t that what its all about??? Who cares if we can actually get the job done when it counts. As long as we get to wear our t-shirts and have nice lights in our POV’s thats all we need. SAD!
From Screamin Ted, to a fire service expert……..AMAZING
Where should we start with this? Command presence, search tactics, etc…
TICs available on scene, and not utilized?
I’ am posting not to criticize, but to offer “COMMAND” (cause I wasn’t quit sure who was in command until later within the incident, who command was) some food for thought or should I ask:
Why Eng 6 had Water supply across route 3, and moved to the school as a pose to the next due company (secondary water supply)?
Why aren’t units using universal language (Nat. Standards?) Unit late in the incident ex: Side A =Alpha D=delta etc?
What were the sector assignments besides div 1, Saftey?
What is the status of the fire?
Why didn’t Command allow Eng 10 to search 1st fl not the 2nd, while there was still one unaccountable for and reports of one still on the 2nd floor?
Does Communications center provide Incident during updates?
Unit from the city won’t respond that far in the county, with confirmed people trapped??? What about MUTUAL AIDE…
PAR Check… PAR Check … PAR Check… PAR Check
SAD, REALLY REALLY SAD!
You clowns killed a lady, plain and simple. The officers should be suspended for incompetence of cowardice. They were either stupid or afraid. This is not a training issue, this is a who belongs in the fire department and who does not issue.
This is what happens when a bunch of kids talk their buddies into voting for them each year at election time. They sit in the front seat saying cool things on the radio, pressing that little black button on the floor and make vidoes on Youtube. They skate by (possibly for years) and for the most part do okay…UNTIL that one time when there is actually a real incident. Like a fire with somebody trapped? Then you know what happens? Those inexperienced kids don’t quite know what to do and somebody gets hurt or killed. This is the worst case scenario of what happens when people loose sight of the mission of the fire department. PAID or VOLUNTEER… It’s not about who gets to wear the white helmet or talk on the radio. It’s about knowing what to do and how to do it. TAke all the classes you want, put that FDNY sticker on your helmet, make your videos, put those red lights all over your car, go screaming up and down the road and say cool things on the radio. But when things like this happen, God help you if somebody dies ot gets hurt because you won a popularity contest.
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2010/032010/03132010/530360
Let’s stop trashing people and memorialize the victim.
Somehow, the department will address the problems
NEWSFLASH…according to volunteer chief Richie Cantillion “…he does not think thermal cameras would have helped because, since the fire never spread beyond the first floor, the upstairs was probably at a level temperature.”
The things I learn every day that I never knew! Damn shame Sandy had to die so needlessly. =+(
Read all about it on page 4 of this story: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2010/032010/03212010/529319/index_html?page=1
Buried within the controversy and negativity something real positive occurred during the call. Did anyone notice or even read the transcripts from the 911 call? The 911 dispatcher who will be forgotten about did an excellent job. There are not many 911 operators out there who would of handled this so professionally. I have trained 911 operators in and out of our country and no matter where I go they are always the forgotten piece of our services. The last mouth to be feed! The last part of our services that are funded the last part that ever receives training. But, the first one to be blamed for poor performance! When most of the time its not even their fault its their agencies fault for not training or preparing them to handle such a situation.
I feel horrible for the pain the victim suffered and for the friends and family who now grieve the loss of a loved one.
But, lets not forget about the operator who did an excellent job. But, it just gets swept under the carpet. If you are from the agency please check on your co-worker. Make sure the operator is OK. Make sure they don’t need EAP or other services? Where they invited to the debriefing? Was their performance critiqued? We cant do our job as Firefighters, Fire Officer’s, Paramedics etc without them.
P.J. Norwood
pnorwood@easthavenfire.com
P.S. Look in the mirror no department is perfect no department operates each and everyday without mistakes. Lets learn from the tragedy. Learn the negative learn the positive and improve. There is no one that can’t learn and improve themselves and their agency. Don’t criticize today as tomorrow you may be on the front page tomorrow.
P.J. Norwood
PJ, let me be the first to say that you are right with regard to not only the dispatcher (the one who managed the radio traffic) but the CALLTAKER as well. If there was only one part (and there was) to this whole call that went well, it was them. I will point out however, that they are both CAREER providers and held to a STANDARD or they don’t get to play.
“OneWhoKnows”, thank you for picking up on this error! I apologize, you are corrrect. I just got on a roll or should I say 1 of my many soap boxes. I used the word dispatcher and didn’t mention the calltaker(s) or potentially others who handled this call. Kudos to them. Unfotunately there was a horrible ending for one. But, I hope the calltaker and dispatch team know they did a good job and their efforts are not completely unnoticed.
RIP MOM 5 23 07… 4 years this year but still not any easier. But I guess nothing has been learned from your death as of yet. We will continue to fight for you and for those others, whom have lost their lives for no explainable reason.