Fire! Please send a truck!

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?Indiana

In February we had a small oven fire. We called 911 to ask what the best thing to put on it would be. We got terrible advice and kept calling as the fire got worse..and we no longer had the ability to put it out by ourselves. We couldn't convince this guy that we needed some outside help. Well, after 5 calls, 50 minutes and a kitchen a blaze, help finally came. The fire chief apologized that the dispatcher broke protocol so many times...We ended up with 45K claim against our insurance, 3 months out of our house. So there have been many expenses and much stress involoved with moving my home business, and my family into a hotel and back into the house, insurance deductible, increase in insurance rates, etc. Is the county responsible for expenses occured? Thanks!

[rmet4nzkx]

See an attorney. It may depend on the local arrangement for your fire protection, is it a muni FD or a vollunteer FD as to whether or not you can bring suit against a public entity? Call your local government and ask about placing a claim. If there were 5 calls to 911 there should be a record. Something sounds funny with this, especially with an admission.

[dequeendistress]

All calls received by a dispatch are (better be) recorded in some manner.

Volunteer FD or not, the fault is going to lie with the dispatching agency. Evidently there is an agreement between the county and the Fire department agencies or they would not be able to dispatch them. (or to inadvertantly NOT dispatch)

[stephenk]

Were all 5 calls requests to have a fire truck come out or were you just asking how to put out the fire?

The first call was to ask what to put on it since the fire was only about the size of a softball...the guy said to close the door and let it burn. We questioned this, but he assured us it was okay.

The second call was to tell him that smoke was getting really thick and the fire was engulfing the inside of the oven...we thought we should get some help. He told us to open the windows to avoid smoke damage.(we directly questioned about the air feeding the fire, but by this point we no longer could put the fire out on our own and he was the only person helping us)

The third call was to tell him that it wasn't working at all and that flames were coming out of the oven, the smoke was so thick we needed to leave the house. He asked us if our neighbors had an extinguisher...no, we live in the country. He then asked if he should send someone out with an extinguisher. We said, well, if that was what our options were, then yes.

The fourth call was to tell him that no one had come and that from the back yard we could see flames going into the cupboards. At this point he asked us if we thought we needed more than an extinguisher.

The fifth call was to ask him to please send a truck! He said he would call for back up.

Finally, an ambulance with the fire chief arrived...but the big trucks were needed by that point.

After the fire was out, the chief told us that we should have had a truck come after the first call, that that was the protocol for all fires.

[stephenk]

what were you cooking? what caused the fire?

[Happy Trails]

**Sounds like the dispatcher didn't think it was going to get out of hand. How old are you?

hmmm...over 30 I am. A tupperware container that had been stashed there during a party caught on fire when I preheated the oven.

[Happy Trails]

Originally Posted by Hoosier10

hmmm...over 30 I am. A tupperware container that had been stashed there during a party caught on fire when I preheated the oven.

**I didn't mean the question about your age in a bad way. I was wondering only because the dispatcher seemed to be relying on your opinion on whether or not a truck should have been sent.

On the fourth call, what was your response to him when he asked you if you needed more than an extinguisher?