CHP dispatch ignored Angora calls

CHP ignored early fire calls
By John Hill - Bee Capitol Bureau
Last Updated 4:47 pm PDT Friday, July 13, 2007


The California Highway Patrol released audio tapes Friday showing a seven- to nine-minute delay between 911 calls made to report the devastating Angora fire and the first fire engines rolling in response.

In five calls made to the CHP's communications center in Truckee, two CHP dispatchers told callers they were seeing a controlled burn, not an out-of-control wildfire that claimed 254 homes and 3,100 acres near South Lake Tahoe.

"I'm on the golf course...and we can see smoke coming off the mountain to the west of us," said the first call received by the CHP's Truckee communications center at 2:02 pm on June 24.

"Yeah, they're doing a - a control burn up there," the dispatcher responds.

"Thank you," the unidentified caller responds. "Sorry to bother you."

The CHP says it is investigating potential misconduct by the two dispatchers, who have been given other assignments during the investigation.

CHP dispatchers are supposed to either refer a call to a CHP officer or stay on the line while it is transferred to another agency, Assistant Chief Sal Segura said in a press conference Friday releasing the 911 tapes.

They are also required to record the call on a computerized dispatch system.

Instead, the dispatchers appear to have dismissed the calls, telling the alarmed callers that they were seeing a controlled burn.

Not until seven to nine minutes later did the dispatchers, along with other 911 callers, finally alert the Lake Valley Fire Department, Segura said.

In fact, there were no controlled burns that day, or even that week, Segura said. He declined to answer questions about how the dispatchers came to believe there was a controlled burn, saying it was part of the investigation.

The dispatchers both had extensive experience, he said. One has been with the CHP for 27 years, mostly with dispatch, while the other has been a dispatcher for 17 years.

"We're not talking about rookies here," Segura said. "We're talking about experienced personnel."