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Firefighters Unable to Find Victim Inside Virginia Fire
SHERRI LY
WTTG
Reprinted with Permission
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - A woman frantically called 911 while trapped inside her burning home. Firefighters knew where she was, but couldn't find her until it was too late.
Related
Investigators in Spotsylvania County are now going over the 911 and dispatch recordings trying to figure out how this could happen. The 911 call is heartbreaking. At one point you hear Sandy Hill tell the dispatcher, "I'm going to die," while the dispatcher tries to get Hill to hold on.
Hill, who eventually died, is pleading for help while firefighters search the Fredericksburg house. The mother of the victim told a local newspaper that she wanted people to hear the 911 call, because it may help save someone's life.
It started as a small fire in a downstairs hallway. Hill is upstairs, the second floor filled with smoke, when she calls 911.
"I think the house is on fire," she tells the operator.
Chancellor volunteer firefighters arrive at the home on Spotswood Furnace Road, within four minutes of her call and begin searching the house a minute later. At the same time Hill is still on the phone with 911.
"Which bedroom are you in?" the operators asks. Then she relays the information to dispatchers on the line with firefighters, "There's a second female upstairs trapped." Hill responds "I'm in the back bedroom."
Two more minutes pass. Hill tells the 911 operator she's behind the door, up the steps to the left. Firefighters make it upstairs but don't find anything. In the fire dispatch recordings, a firefighter on scene tell the dispatcher, "You need to check to see if everybody is out of house or what. They searched the top floor-- no luck," he says. At that point, it's about eleven minutes into the search.
Spotsylvania County's Fire Chief says he's listened to the tapes, too, and has launched an internal investigation. He refrained from saying whether the firefighters did anything wrong, but says they are struggling with what happened. "I can tell you it's certainly playing, weighing very heavily on the first responders who were in that house that were doing everything they thought in their power to be able to reach her and have a different outcome," Chief Chris Eudailey said.
Hill's roommate also called 911 and got out of the house on her own. The roommate Christine Brown's 17-year-old daughter was rescued from a bedroom downstairs about 13 minutes after firefighters arrived, which appears to cause some confusion. Dispatchers inform rescuers Hill is still upstairs. Again, firefighters respond to the dispatchers.
"Second floor, no results-- we're going to the first floor again," one of the rescuers says. Someone else responds, "She's reported to be in a bedroom by the door if that helps at all."
Then the dispatcher says, "We can hear the firemen banging on the door."
The 911 operator can still hear Hill breathing, but she has not spoken to the dispatcher for several minutes.
The home's layout may have proven difficult for firefighters to navigate. The Cape Cod style home was built in the 1950's. Jacqueline Mills went inside last year when the home was being rented. Inside she described the upstairs as like a mouse maze or a dollhouse, with various doors leading to other doors.
"You didn't know whether to turn left or turn right," she said. "I could barely find my way up into the second floor myself in broad daylight," Mills recalled.
It's easy she says to understand how firefighters could have gotten confused in a smoke filled house, unable to see. The windows she remembered too were painted shut.
The firefighters had a thermal imaging device but did not use it. Although a firefighter is heard calling for a ladder to the second floor on the fire dispatch recordings, no ladder was extended to Hill's bedroom window.
There was also a delay in informing firefighters that the fire was out, so the house could be ventilated. All those things, the chief says will be part of the investigation. He plans to have the team meet this week, but won't give a deadline for when the investigation will be complete.
Rescuers finally found Hill after more than 20 minutes, upstairs in a second floor bedroom by the door, where she told them. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
"It was very disturbing to me," the chief said of the 911 call and what happened.
On the 911 call, the operator asks Hill if she can get to the window. Hill, now exhausted, her breathing labored, says she tried but it wouldn't open.
WTTG
Reprinted with Permission
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - A woman frantically called 911 while trapped inside her burning home. Firefighters knew where she was, but couldn't find her until it was too late.
Related
- Call from victim to 911 in fatal fire
- Transcript of 911 call in fatal fire
- Text of dispatch in fatal fire
- STATter911: Why Dit It Take So Long?
Hill, who eventually died, is pleading for help while firefighters search the Fredericksburg house. The mother of the victim told a local newspaper that she wanted people to hear the 911 call, because it may help save someone's life.
It started as a small fire in a downstairs hallway. Hill is upstairs, the second floor filled with smoke, when she calls 911.
"I think the house is on fire," she tells the operator.
Chancellor volunteer firefighters arrive at the home on Spotswood Furnace Road, within four minutes of her call and begin searching the house a minute later. At the same time Hill is still on the phone with 911.
"Which bedroom are you in?" the operators asks. Then she relays the information to dispatchers on the line with firefighters, "There's a second female upstairs trapped." Hill responds "I'm in the back bedroom."
Two more minutes pass. Hill tells the 911 operator she's behind the door, up the steps to the left. Firefighters make it upstairs but don't find anything. In the fire dispatch recordings, a firefighter on scene tell the dispatcher, "You need to check to see if everybody is out of house or what. They searched the top floor-- no luck," he says. At that point, it's about eleven minutes into the search.
Spotsylvania County's Fire Chief says he's listened to the tapes, too, and has launched an internal investigation. He refrained from saying whether the firefighters did anything wrong, but says they are struggling with what happened. "I can tell you it's certainly playing, weighing very heavily on the first responders who were in that house that were doing everything they thought in their power to be able to reach her and have a different outcome," Chief Chris Eudailey said.
Hill's roommate also called 911 and got out of the house on her own. The roommate Christine Brown's 17-year-old daughter was rescued from a bedroom downstairs about 13 minutes after firefighters arrived, which appears to cause some confusion. Dispatchers inform rescuers Hill is still upstairs. Again, firefighters respond to the dispatchers.
"Second floor, no results-- we're going to the first floor again," one of the rescuers says. Someone else responds, "She's reported to be in a bedroom by the door if that helps at all."
Then the dispatcher says, "We can hear the firemen banging on the door."
The 911 operator can still hear Hill breathing, but she has not spoken to the dispatcher for several minutes.
The home's layout may have proven difficult for firefighters to navigate. The Cape Cod style home was built in the 1950's. Jacqueline Mills went inside last year when the home was being rented. Inside she described the upstairs as like a mouse maze or a dollhouse, with various doors leading to other doors.
"You didn't know whether to turn left or turn right," she said. "I could barely find my way up into the second floor myself in broad daylight," Mills recalled.
It's easy she says to understand how firefighters could have gotten confused in a smoke filled house, unable to see. The windows she remembered too were painted shut.
The firefighters had a thermal imaging device but did not use it. Although a firefighter is heard calling for a ladder to the second floor on the fire dispatch recordings, no ladder was extended to Hill's bedroom window.
There was also a delay in informing firefighters that the fire was out, so the house could be ventilated. All those things, the chief says will be part of the investigation. He plans to have the team meet this week, but won't give a deadline for when the investigation will be complete.
Rescuers finally found Hill after more than 20 minutes, upstairs in a second floor bedroom by the door, where she told them. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
"It was very disturbing to me," the chief said of the 911 call and what happened.
On the 911 call, the operator asks Hill if she can get to the window. Hill, now exhausted, her breathing labored, says she tried but it wouldn't open.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on
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It's terrible what has taken place, but let the investigation take place before making any judgment on the department.
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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on
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Only those that were there know what they faced. Nobody joins in this brotherhood to let someone die that is certain. The individuals responded to the best of their abilities I'm sure but an investigation is necessary to see why this happened and to perhaps prevent a recurrence of this situation else where.
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Permalink Reply by Kelly Scott Lancaster on
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I also beleave to never make judgments on other scenes fires or medicals if you were not there.
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Permalink Reply by Jason deRonde on
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Nomatter how hard anyone trains there is never an identical situation or the situation never goes by the book. All we can do as firefighters and first responders is give 110%. My heart goes out to the family members and to the Firefighters involved. Dont let your resolve down. Keep going and doing the things noone else wants too....
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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What is lacking in this story is the responsibility of the residents. What is the reason that the victim could not get out of the home on her own? The roommate got out on her own, her 17 y/o daughter had to be rescued after 13 minutes. Were there working smoke alarms, I mean 13 minutes to get out and the victim upstairs calls while still inside. The windows were painted shut, then even the fact the victim saying she is behind the door, go to the window at least. Was she diasbled? The article doesn't say, but the clip says the victim was at the window, but couldn't open it......then stay by the window! Tell that to dispatch, because seeing a person in a window is better than trying to find them through a smoke filled maze.
However, what do we teach kids in fire prevention? If trapped go to the window and wave something, shine a light, whatever to get firefighters attention. We tell them to have an exit plan for the house and to practice it, we tell people to have WORKING smoke alarms and so forth. Then we get something here in which the fingers being pointed at FF's for seeminly not doing their jobs. The family wanted the 911 tapes released "because it may save someone's life"......Yeah, it is called listen to the damn fire prevention messages we teach people. Maybe it is time responsibilty for actions do fall on victims in cases like this instead of things consistently being scapegoated elsewhere.
No, I don't know all the details and won't finger point at the firefighters, this scene sounds very confusing, you have a person trapped and then a teen who was rescued, dispatch may not be giving good info, the layout sounds very confusing, complicated with smoke conditions (it doesn't take long to go through an air bottle). A FF down is taught to make noise and get attention, dispatch tells the victim "to hang in there", what about going to the window, what about making noise? Despite the outcome of the investigation here, there should be some responsibility shared by the victim here too.
Sharing the tape seemily is the family blaming the FD for not finding the victim, if the family really wants to save lives....maybe endorse fire prevention measures that we teach and remind people of. It is called RESPONSIBILITY.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Anderson on
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One woman said it was a maze in daylight. Could it have been so bad they couldn't find the door?
If the victim couldhear firefighters banging did she make any noise to let them know she was there? The tape should have that, or did the media conveniently not release that part?
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One woman said it was a maze in daylight. Could it have been so bad they couldn't find the door?
My theory...absolutely
If the victim couldhear firefighters banging did she make any noise to let them know she was there? The tape should have that, or did the media conveniently not release that part?
I can understand if being overcome by CO at that point, but there was stuff she probably could have done while on the phone with 911, such as making noise, breaking the window with something, etc, etc.......My issue here seems to be the traditional shift of responsibility of an incident..... "the FF's didn't do their job, it is not (the victim's) fault for this at all....it is someone else's fault"
I personally would love to know if there were working smoke detectors etc which should have warned about the fire MUCH MUCH earlier than calling 911 and saying "I think the house is on fire)....oh and that it was about 13 minutes into the incident to get the teenager out. Something tells me, no working smoke alarms.
Maybe someone should tell the public to ensure they have working smoke alarms in their home, to change the battery, to routinely test them, to have an escape plan, how to prevent fires.....Oh wait, nevermind.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
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It's unfortune that the lady die due to smoke inhalation. Could she have been rescued we will never know for certain. What doesn't help this situation is the media who will exploit this event in an effort to attract attention. Remember "If it bleeds, it leads." That's the way the media always presents the fire service.
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John, I absolutely agree with your thoughts! How many times do we have to make the statement, Fire prevention, smoke alarms, home owners self evacuations,etc--etc--.
There's no S on our chest, we do the job the very best that we can ,and most of the time we get the blame when things go south! I would like to know the entire story on this one!
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