Dispatcher Threatened After Fatal Fire

The Brunswick County (NC) 911 dispatcher who fielded the first reports of a house fire that claimed the lives of 7 college students has received death threats, officials say. The unnamed dispatcher did not mishandle the calls, said Tom Rogers, deputy director of the county’s emergency services, which manages the center. The dispatcher has 3 or 4 years of experience, he said, but had to ask about the fire location several times during at least one call. He said a bad cellular phone connection or background noise may have made the caller difficult to hear. The first call was received at 7:00:50 a.m. and fire units were dispatched 30 seconds later, he said. The five on-duty dispatchers handled 19 additional calls, and dispatched four other fire departments to the incident within five minutes. Rogers said persons have telephoned the comm center to comment on the dispatcher’s handling of the calls, calling her incompetent. “She’s very upset,” he said. The center handles communications for about 100,000 county residents, and 22 fire, 10 EMS and 12 law enforcement agencies. Read more about the fire and listen to some of the 911 calls here.