Fire Response Delay

An Austin (Tex.) barbeque restaurant was destroyed by fire last week, and now reporters have discovered that the fire was reported by two callers, but a firefighter-dispatcher believed the first caller was seeing smoke from the restaurant’s meat smoker and didn’t send fire units. The second call prompted a fire response, 45 minutes after the first call. During the first call dispatcher Eric Mackey asked the color of the smoke. The caller said it was white, and Mackey told him, “Yeah, yeah it’s probably from their smoker, like where they cook the brisket.” The Austin Fire Department says Mackey is a 27-year firefighter, and that the 911 caller notified the department the next morning of what had occurred. The fire department is investigating the incident.