Response Delayed to Fatal Fire Reported via Vonage

A Vonage telephone subscriber in Durham County (SC) dialed 911 to report a fatal fire last Monday, and the dispatcher who answered the call typed in the wrong address, sending fire units to an address 13 miles away. The mistake was caught about six minutes after dispatch, and it took fire units another six minutes to arrive at the correct location. By then, the house was engulfed and the occupant, Marvin Jacobs, 74, perished in the fire. Sheriff’s officials said the 3-year veteran dispatcher entered the location as “Chanticleer Drive” instead of the correct location, “Shantercliff Place,” despite the caller spelling out the correct street name three times during the call. They said the caller was using a Vonage-based telephone, and the address of the caller wasn’t displayed to the dispatcher. An investigation is underway into the cause of the fire and the 911 call handling. Listen to the 911 call. here