Dispatcher: ‘Awkward’ To Be Called a Hero

Spotsylvania County (Virg.) dispatcher Domonique Curry handled the worse call of her life last February, she says, when she kept a woman on the phone for 20 minutes, slowly hearing her succumb to smoke while trapped by fire in her bedroom. Now called a hero by sheriff Howard Smith, Curry says it’s awkward to accept that praise, since the woman died. Even after the victim’s family called her on the phone to praise her, Curry recalls every word she told the victim, particularly that she told the woman she wouldn’t die. “I feel like I gave her a false promise,” Curry told a reporter. Firefighters rescued one other resident, but failed to find the victim who dialed 911, sparking an investigation that has recommended fireground changes. Read Curry’s account of the call, about the final tragedy and of Curry’s heroism here.