FOUR DeKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA, FIRE OFFICERS WERE PLACED on administrative leave Monday following a fatal house fire early Sunday morning. County public safety director William Miller put acting officer in charge William Greene, Capt. Tony L. Motes, Capt. Sell Caldwell, and Battalion Chief Lesley Clark on leave with pay while the department investigates the circumstances of the fire.
Only the front steps and the chimney remained of
the ranch-style house. (Atlanta Journal Constitution / Andres)
The incident began at 1:03 am Sunday when the 9-1-1 center recieved a call about a fire in a house. While the call-taker was getting the inormation, the line was disconnected. Fire Rescue units were dispatched to the area where the call originated while the dispatcher tried unsucessfully to call back. The responding units were unable to locate any evidence of a fire in the area and returned to quarters.
Later, at 6:40 am another call came in reporting a house on fire across the street from the caller’s home. The 1st-arriving units found a house fully involved with fire through the roof. After the fire was put out, firefighters found the body of a 74-yr.-old woman in the debris nearly 8 hours after she first called for help.
WAGA-TV Ch. 5 Atlanta has this video report:
Firegeezer notes: It hasn’t been reported if any of the suspensions were officers at the 9-1-1 center. Also, I find it curious that DeKalb’s dispatch center has apparently never upgraded to the caller-ID feature that gives the address of the caller. On the other hand, if they do have it, the address given is usually the billing address and sometimes that can be another location, such as a trustee’s home.
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