The Harford County 911 Center is investigating the way the call for a fire in Abingdon that killed five people ? including three children ? on Thursday was dispatched.
Already frustrated that five people died in a fire in his company?s dispatch area, Abingdon Volunteer Fire Company Chief Albert Bair said the investigation has hampered his ability to critique his company.
“I can?t tell you if there is an issue here or not,” Bair said Sunday of 911 dispatch records that are being withheld from him.
Bair also said “false information” is beingreported as to whom was first on the scene, and that one of his paramedics was first to arrive. Based on postings on The Watch Desk ? a Internet site that provides a forum for firefighters ? Harford County 911 Center spokeswoman Sue Collins issued a news release Friday stating the Philadelphia Road fire was first reported at 10:17:52 a.m. and firefighters were dispatched at 10:19:04.
However, Collins said, the initial address given was incorrect. Firefighters were dispatched to the correct address at 10:20:57 a.m. Harford firefighters posting on The Watch Desk say the call was dispatched at 10:22 and firefighters from the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company were first on the scene at 10:29 a.m.
Deputy Maryland State Fire Marshal W. Faron Taylor said Sunday that given the level of carbon monoxide found in the victims, the fire killed the residents of 3407 Philadelphia Road long before firefighters arrived. Fire investigators had not determined the cause of the fire as of Sunday, Taylor said.
The fire killed 72-year-old Jerome Shropshire, his wife, Annette Milford Shropshire, 47, and three grandchildren, 4-year-old Donald White, 3-year-old Derek White and 8-month-old Jhaniyah Davis.
