911 Calls and Emergency Radio Traffic From Vienna, Virginia Fireworks Mishap
It was a difficult night for some members of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. July 4th and they were on hand to make sure the fireworks for the Town of Vienna, Virginia went off safely. Everything went well until just before the fireworks were to end.
That’s when a misfire caused a cake box holding fireworks to tip over. This allowed the fireworks to shoot across the ground. Suddenly Battalion Chief Keith Johnson, from the fire prevention division, found himself in charge of a very different operation. Johnson immediately called for help on his radio, requesting an EMS task force and a medevac helicopter. He also established the incident command.
At the same time, people at the fireworks display grabbed their cell phones to call 911 for help.
Seven people were hurt, including Andre Hollis’ wife and 3-year-old son. Hollis told The Washington Post’s Tom Jackman this week, that the serious injuries to Kathryn and Max Hollis might have been worse if Chief Johnson and the helicopter had not been there:
“Had they not been there,” Hollis said, “there would have been at least one funeral. I owe them so much.”
STATter 911 has the 911 calls and the emergency radio traffic from that night.
Here is the emergency radio traffic:
Here are the 911 calls:
