MONROE - A gap in technology handling 911 calls from cell phones and human error caused at least a 15-minute delay in responding to a house fire in southwest Green County early Tuesday morning.
"We will review what happened, look at the circumstances surrounding the incident and evaluate the end results," Green County Chief Deputy Jeff Skatrud told the Times.
"The end result will be to fix it and hope it doesn't happen again."
A home rented by Eric and Teena Fey west of Martintown was destroyed by fire in the early-morning hours. The Feys and their three children, who were home at the time, escaped uninjured.
It took at least 15 minutes and a second call to 911 from Eric Fey before the correct fire department - Browntown - was dispatched. About 32 minutes after Fey first reported the fire, the Browntown crews arrived at the scene.
From a preliminary inquiry and evaluation of what happened, Skatrud said human error contributed to the Brodhead Fire Department mistakenly being dispatched to an incorrect address.
A follow-up inquiry and evaluation will take about a week to complete, Skatrud said. He and Green County Lt. Paul Weichbrod, who administrates the jail and the dispatch center, listened to the calls Wednesday.
Fey's first 911 call was made from a cell phone, the exact time of which could not be verified Friday by Metro Freeport.
Because Fey's house on Clark Road in southwest Cadiz township is near the Wisconsin-Illinois state line, the call was picked up by the nearest cell tower - in Stephenson County, Illinois. That sent the call to the Metro Freeport dispatch center.
Once understanding the caller was in Green County, Freeport transferred the call at about 1:58 a.m. to the Green County Sheriff's Department via a land line.
Once connected with a Green County dispatcher, the call took a total of about 34 seconds.
From a recording released Wednesday to the Times by the Green County Sheriff's Department, Fey is heard giving his address as "N399 ... (inaudible) ...ark Road."
A female voice in the background also can be heard during the exchange, yelling, "Get out of here now ... Get out of here."
The dispatcher repeats the address he heard, "N399 Park Road?", to which Fey answers, "Yep."
The dispatcher then released the caller without getting his name, phone number, and community he lives in. The caller only had identified that he lived in Green County.
"The dispatcher should have asked the name and (complete) address," Skatrud said.
That he didn't proved problematic, because the dispatcher mistakenly sent out the Brodhead Fire Department to the vicinity of the 3900 block of Park Road in Decatur township, northwest of Brodhead, on the east side of the county.
Weichbrod said dispatchers try to collect as much information as possible on emergency calls.
"There's no set amount," he said. "We have to make a decision when to keep the caller on the line and when to not. The priority is to get your family out. It was best to get them out of the house."
The dispatcher in this case asked, "Is everyone getting out of the house?"
Fey, who sounds calm throughout the call, responded, "Yes, we are."
The dispatcher then responded, "OK, ah, I will let you go. I'll get the fire department paged, OK?"
Soon after the call, dispatch discovered there is no 399 on Park Road in Green County. The dispatcher then assigned the Brodhead Fire Department to the vicinity of the 3900 block of Park Road in Decatur township.
The dispatcher was unable to make a return call to verify an address, because a phone number was not given and it was not available on the dispatcher's computer screen. Normally, an emergency call that comes into county dispatch on the 911 line can be traced, and is recorded. Dispatch can access a computer screen of a past call to check the location of the cell phone.
But in a transferred call via landline, the caller's cell number isn't displayed; nor can a cell's global positioning system (GPS) be accessed.
"This is the first time I know of that it (on-screen cell number and GPS tracking) would have helped," Skatrud said.
Fey made a second 911 call about 11 minutes later, at 2:11 a.m. Again, his call initially went to Metro Freeport, then was transferred to Green County.
Once on line with the dispatcher, Fey said, "We got like an electrical fire at N399 Clark Road, Browntown, Wisconsin, a house fire. It's not actually burning right now, but yet there's smoke inside the house, And we got bubbling on the ceiling on the roof."
"And this is where? Browntown?" the dispatcher responded.
"Yes," Fey said.
"OK. They were telling me it was Brodhead," the dispatcher said, drawing an "OK" and a laugh from Fey.
After confirming Fey's address and getting his name, the dispatcher realized Fey also had made the first call and apologized for getting the address incorrect. The dispatcher then kept Fey on the line while he called off the Brodhead department and paged the Browntown Fire Department at about 2:13 a.m.
The page sent out was for "39 hundred block of Clark Road," although Clark Road fire numbers are in the 100-500 range. The recording ends at that point.
Volunteer crews were at the Browntown station eight minutes later and arrived at the scene at about 2:30 a.m.
The department that actually is closest to the fire scene is Winslow, Ill., just 3.5 miles away. However, dispatchers must route assignments and send out the appropriate primary fire district first, which is why Metro Freeport transferred the call to Green County.
"Otherwise, there would be chaos," Weichbrod said.
It is up to the primary fire district to request backup. Winslow was one of the area fire departments eventually called out through the Mutual Aid Box Assistance System (MABAS).
Personnel from the South Wayne, Monroe, Juda, Brodhead, Wiota, Winslow, Ill., and Warren Ill., fire departments responded to the scene or assisted the Browntown Fire Department at the station, Green County Sheriff Randy Roderick said. The sheriff's department also assisted at the scene. Monroe Rescue 801 also was called out for firefighter rehab.
The name of the dispatcher who took Fey's call was blacked out of written transcripts provided by the sheriff's department. Skatrud said the dispatcher's name will be released once the internal inquiry is resolved.
Skatrud said the dispatcher will not be disciplined.
"He feels bad about it," Skatrud said. "He knows what he did. But it's human error. We're always going to have humans in dispatch ... and that's not a bad thing. I think it's a good thing."
Only one dispatcher was on duty when Fey made his call. Two dispatchers are working during peak periods, from about 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. Peak periods are when more people are out driving, when the department receives more foot traffic into the office, and receives the most complaints.
Skatrud said the county doesn't have enough dispatchers to have two on duty at all times. Also, some dispatchers serve as jailers. Green County has five full-time dispatchers and has just approved hiring a sixth.
Skatrud said dispatchers are hired after an intense process, complete with background checks. They receive a minimum of 12 weeks training, then enter a mentoring process with an experienced dispatcher. Some of Green County's dispatcher mentors have more than 20 years experience.
Skatrud said the County does due diligence in hiring the right people and then properly training and supervising them.
"We will review what happened, look at the circumstances surrounding the incident and evaluate the end results," Green County Chief Deputy Jeff Skatrud told the Times.
"The end result will be to fix it and hope it doesn't happen again."
A home rented by Eric and Teena Fey west of Martintown was destroyed by fire in the early-morning hours. The Feys and their three children, who were home at the time, escaped uninjured.
It took at least 15 minutes and a second call to 911 from Eric Fey before the correct fire department - Browntown - was dispatched. About 32 minutes after Fey first reported the fire, the Browntown crews arrived at the scene.
From a preliminary inquiry and evaluation of what happened, Skatrud said human error contributed to the Brodhead Fire Department mistakenly being dispatched to an incorrect address.
A follow-up inquiry and evaluation will take about a week to complete, Skatrud said. He and Green County Lt. Paul Weichbrod, who administrates the jail and the dispatch center, listened to the calls Wednesday.
Fey's first 911 call was made from a cell phone, the exact time of which could not be verified Friday by Metro Freeport.
Because Fey's house on Clark Road in southwest Cadiz township is near the Wisconsin-Illinois state line, the call was picked up by the nearest cell tower - in Stephenson County, Illinois. That sent the call to the Metro Freeport dispatch center.
Once understanding the caller was in Green County, Freeport transferred the call at about 1:58 a.m. to the Green County Sheriff's Department via a land line.
Once connected with a Green County dispatcher, the call took a total of about 34 seconds.
From a recording released Wednesday to the Times by the Green County Sheriff's Department, Fey is heard giving his address as "N399 ... (inaudible) ...ark Road."
A female voice in the background also can be heard during the exchange, yelling, "Get out of here now ... Get out of here."
The dispatcher repeats the address he heard, "N399 Park Road?", to which Fey answers, "Yep."
The dispatcher then released the caller without getting his name, phone number, and community he lives in. The caller only had identified that he lived in Green County.
"The dispatcher should have asked the name and (complete) address," Skatrud said.
That he didn't proved problematic, because the dispatcher mistakenly sent out the Brodhead Fire Department to the vicinity of the 3900 block of Park Road in Decatur township, northwest of Brodhead, on the east side of the county.
Weichbrod said dispatchers try to collect as much information as possible on emergency calls.
"There's no set amount," he said. "We have to make a decision when to keep the caller on the line and when to not. The priority is to get your family out. It was best to get them out of the house."
The dispatcher in this case asked, "Is everyone getting out of the house?"
Fey, who sounds calm throughout the call, responded, "Yes, we are."
The dispatcher then responded, "OK, ah, I will let you go. I'll get the fire department paged, OK?"
Soon after the call, dispatch discovered there is no 399 on Park Road in Green County. The dispatcher then assigned the Brodhead Fire Department to the vicinity of the 3900 block of Park Road in Decatur township.
The dispatcher was unable to make a return call to verify an address, because a phone number was not given and it was not available on the dispatcher's computer screen. Normally, an emergency call that comes into county dispatch on the 911 line can be traced, and is recorded. Dispatch can access a computer screen of a past call to check the location of the cell phone.
But in a transferred call via landline, the caller's cell number isn't displayed; nor can a cell's global positioning system (GPS) be accessed.
"This is the first time I know of that it (on-screen cell number and GPS tracking) would have helped," Skatrud said.
Fey made a second 911 call about 11 minutes later, at 2:11 a.m. Again, his call initially went to Metro Freeport, then was transferred to Green County.
Once on line with the dispatcher, Fey said, "We got like an electrical fire at N399 Clark Road, Browntown, Wisconsin, a house fire. It's not actually burning right now, but yet there's smoke inside the house, And we got bubbling on the ceiling on the roof."
"And this is where? Browntown?" the dispatcher responded.
"Yes," Fey said.
"OK. They were telling me it was Brodhead," the dispatcher said, drawing an "OK" and a laugh from Fey.
After confirming Fey's address and getting his name, the dispatcher realized Fey also had made the first call and apologized for getting the address incorrect. The dispatcher then kept Fey on the line while he called off the Brodhead department and paged the Browntown Fire Department at about 2:13 a.m.
The page sent out was for "39 hundred block of Clark Road," although Clark Road fire numbers are in the 100-500 range. The recording ends at that point.
Volunteer crews were at the Browntown station eight minutes later and arrived at the scene at about 2:30 a.m.
The department that actually is closest to the fire scene is Winslow, Ill., just 3.5 miles away. However, dispatchers must route assignments and send out the appropriate primary fire district first, which is why Metro Freeport transferred the call to Green County.
"Otherwise, there would be chaos," Weichbrod said.
It is up to the primary fire district to request backup. Winslow was one of the area fire departments eventually called out through the Mutual Aid Box Assistance System (MABAS).
Personnel from the South Wayne, Monroe, Juda, Brodhead, Wiota, Winslow, Ill., and Warren Ill., fire departments responded to the scene or assisted the Browntown Fire Department at the station, Green County Sheriff Randy Roderick said. The sheriff's department also assisted at the scene. Monroe Rescue 801 also was called out for firefighter rehab.
The name of the dispatcher who took Fey's call was blacked out of written transcripts provided by the sheriff's department. Skatrud said the dispatcher's name will be released once the internal inquiry is resolved.
Skatrud said the dispatcher will not be disciplined.
"He feels bad about it," Skatrud said. "He knows what he did. But it's human error. We're always going to have humans in dispatch ... and that's not a bad thing. I think it's a good thing."
Only one dispatcher was on duty when Fey made his call. Two dispatchers are working during peak periods, from about 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. Peak periods are when more people are out driving, when the department receives more foot traffic into the office, and receives the most complaints.
Skatrud said the county doesn't have enough dispatchers to have two on duty at all times. Also, some dispatchers serve as jailers. Green County has five full-time dispatchers and has just approved hiring a sixth.
Skatrud said dispatchers are hired after an intense process, complete with background checks. They receive a minimum of 12 weeks training, then enter a mentoring process with an experienced dispatcher. Some of Green County's dispatcher mentors have more than 20 years experience.
Skatrud said the County does due diligence in hiring the right people and then properly training and supervising them.