By FireRescue1 Staff
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Two of the firefighters dismissed following a house fire that killed an elderly woman have blamed a communications breakdown for the botched response.
A crew from DeKalb County, Ga., Fire Rescue were dispatched last month following an early morning call from Ann Bartlett, 74, reporting a fire in her home.
The unit left after failing to find signs of fire. But when crews returned after a second 911 call five hours later, the house was ablaze and the woman was later found dead.
Five firefighters and senior officers were terminated following an investigation, including Acting Officer-in-Charge William J. Greene and Capt. Tony L. Motes.
The pair told Atlanta’s Fox5 Wednesday they were not given enough information for the initial call and that they did carry out a thorough search for signs for fire.
Capt. Motes told the station that they could not find the exact address given to them by a dispatcher, but that units on the scene did look for any signs of fire in the area.
Officer Greene said critical information, such as the fact the woman was calling from her house, was not relayed by dispatch.
“The distress that was conveyed to 911 was not conveyed to the units in the area,” he told Fox5.
DeKalb County officials dismissed the members following an investigation, citing “neglect of duty” and ruled they had failed to establish incident command as required by departmental guidelines.
DeKalb Fire Chief David Foster resigned shortly afterward, with officials saying he had endured a rocky relationship with county administrators.