Radio traffic: MD firefighters dispatched to wrong address during house fire with people trapped
7 minutes lost before correct dispatch to Montgomery County home 10 miles away
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Radio traffic (above) via OpenMHz.com from a house fire Friday evening in Montgomery County, Maryland where firefighters rescued two people and a dog who were still in the house during a small bedroom fire. The firefighters were delayed because they were initially dispatched to 2005 Piccard Drive in the Rockville area. The fire turned out to be at 2005 Prichard Road in the Wheaton area, about 10 miles away. There was approximately seven minutes between the initial dispatch and the dispatch sending firefighters to the correct location.
FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan spoke with Montgomery County Fire Dept. spokesman Pete Piringer, who said that the department is not yet sure about how and why fire crews were sent to the wrong address in the first place. It’s something he said they are looking into while communicating with county police who oversees the 911 call center.
Fire crews responding to a house fire Friday in Montgomery County were mistakenly sent to the wrong street, in the wrong city.
The fire happened just after 10 p.m. Friday night in the 2000 block of Prichard Road in Wheaton, where firefighters eventually rescued two people and a dog.
ICYMI @MCFRS crews responding to a Friday nite fire on Prichard Rd. in Wheaton were actually initially dispatched to Piccard Dr. in Rockville first. MoCo Police are now reviewing the circumstances. NOTE: The Public Safety Communications Center/911 Answering Point is managed by PD https://t.co/9uE9CmmJBQ
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) December 9, 2019
On the dispatch call, crews tell dispatchers they’ve been sent to an address, 2005 Piccard Drive in Rockville, with no fire when they arrive, about five minutes after the initial dispatch. The cross street given was also wrong.
A few minutes later, other crews tell dispatchers they’ve arrived at the correct address, 2005 Prichard Road in Wheaton, about nine minutes after the initial dispatch.
Montgomery County Police, who oversee the 911 call center, tell ABC7 they are looking into what happened.
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Update – Prichard Rd, SFD, @mcfrs FFs rescued 1 mobility challenged adult occupant from basement & assisted another developmentally challenged occupant from 2nd floor. 1 dog rescued from 2nd Floor. Only 1 smoke alarm (in basement) Appears as though fire originated in bedroom. pic.twitter.com/QmMZgVS1CI
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) December 7, 2019
Update – 2005 Prichard Rd, SFD, @MCFRS_EMIHS transported 1 adult, NLT injury; Cause, improperly discarded smoking materials; Area of Origin, 2nd floor bedroom; Damage, $12K; 1 adult rescued from bsmt, 1 adult assisted from 2nd floor, 1 dog rescued from 2nd floor; 1 fam displaced. pic.twitter.com/z4H9QiWE7U
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) December 7, 2019
