Dispatcher Mistakes Found After Dispatch Delay

A six-minute delay in dispatching Oakdale (Calif.) fire units to a report of an abandoned house fire didn’t contribute to the loss of the house, but investigators say it did lead to increased damage to two homes on either side of the original structure. Stanislaus Regional 911 (SR911) officials did not identify either of the two dispatchers involved in the October incident, saying it was a personnel matter. They also didn’t say if either had been disciplined for the mistakes. The Oakdale Fire Department released an incident review that covered both communications and firefighting issues encountered during the incident. They also released a summary of an Oakdale police dispatch “workshop” held after the incident to discuss dispatching issues and develop recommendations. According to fire officials, an SR911 dispatcher fielded a 911 call for a fire in the 200 block of California Avenue. However, that address is duplicated in the cities of Modesto and Oakdale. For an unexplained reason, the dispatcher used the Modesto address, when the fire was actually in Oakdale. Three minutes and 14 seconds later the error was discovered by someone (the report does not state who), and a second dispatcher re-transmitted alerting tones to Oakdale FD. However, the dispatcher made the voice portion of the dispatch on the wrong radio channel, creating an additional three-minute delay to the dispatch. The post-incident review also included discussion of improved transfer of calls between SR911 and local agencies and alternate PSAP operations. Download (pdf) the post-incident review documents here.