By John Hill and Dorothy Korber
Contra Costa Times
Copyright 2007 Contra Costa Newspapers
All Rights Reserved
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol is investigating whether some of its dispatchers who fielded early 911 calls about the Angora fire failed to alert emergency responders, a CHP spokesman confirmed to the Sacramento Bee on Tuesday.
Investigators are looking into whether the dispatchers told 911 callers that what they were seeing was a controlled burn instead of an out-of-control wildfire.
There is no indication that fire units' response to the fire was delayed.
The Angora fire, which started June 24, destroyed 254 homes near South Lake Tahoe, burned 3,100 acres and forced thousands to evacuate.
"We have opened an actual investigation based on information we got last week," CHP spokesman Tom Marshall said Tuesday.
The CHP's Truckee dispatch center is the focus of the investigation.
Marshall said he could not comment on the allegations and suggested that the newspaper file a Public Records Act request to obtain the relevant 911 tapes.
"If I said any more, it would be speculation," he said. "I have no idea of how long the investigation might take, but it will be thorough, it'll be fair, and it'll be complete."
There were no controlled burns in the South Lake Tahoe area on the Sunday that the Angora fire started, according to Mike Corey, battalion chief with Lake Valley Fire Protection District.
Corey said local dispatchers were flooded with reports of the fire, with the first 911 calls starting at 2 p.m.
"There were numerous calls inundating the dispatch center," he said. "People on the golf course had a clear view, they called it in on their cell phones. People in the neighborhoods smelled smoke and called it in."
In general, 911 calls made by cell phone are fielded by the CHP, while emergency calls made on land lines go to local police and fire departments.
Corey said he was unaware of the controversy regarding CHP dispatchers.
"If there is something like that," he said, "there will be an investigation and they'll get to the bottom of it."
