Fire damages township home; owner questions response time

The fire chief urges global positioning systems in cell phones.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
MINERAL RIDGE -- A fire that heavily damaged a Weathersfield Township home was caused by an overloaded extension cord.
Fire Chief Randy Pugh said the Monday afternoon blaze at the Ray Foster home at 2889 Brightwood Ave. resulted in between $20,000 and $25,000 damage. There were no injuries.
Pugh said several lines were plugged into the extension cord, including Christmas ornaments, and the cord shorted out.
The fire was contained to the living room where the blaze started, but the two-story frame structure had smoke and heat damage throughout.
Response time
Pugh said that Foster complained it took nearly 20 minutes from the time he called 911 from his cell phone until firefighters arrived.
When cell phones are used to make 911 emergency calls, they are automatically directed to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The patrol then contacts the 911 center in Howland, which in turn notifies the appropriate emergency responders.
The patrol received the call from Foster at 12:35 p.m. and contacted the 911 center less than seven seconds later.
Sgt. Larry Firmi of the patrol said there was no problem in dispatching because the caller repeated the address in Weathersfield.
Karen Davies, county 911 interim director, said it took two minutes for the center to alert Weathersfield firefighters. Pugh said it took his volunteers six minutes from the time they were alerted to arrive on the scene.
Out-of-date system
Although there weren't any apparent delays in response to the Monday fire, Pugh said the manner in which cell phone emergency calls are handled is out of date.
Such calls should not be going to the patrol in Southington, the fire chief said. He said each cell phone should be equipped with a global positioning system, or GPS, so emergency responders can receive the call directly, bypassing the patrol.
With GPS, Pugh explained, emergency crews would know within 150 yards the site of an emergency call.
The state Legislature and Trumbull County 911 Planning Committee are working to resolve the problem with wireless emergency calls.
In November, county commissioners reactivated the countywide committee to free up $300,000 being held in escrow by the state and address the problem.
The money will be used to set up a way for wireless 911 calls to come straight to the center, for dispatching of emergency services in participating jurisdictions. Trumbull County 911 answers calls for 20 townships, the sheriff's department and Cortland and Orangeville.
The committee will also look at attracting communities to join the county emergency call system and review how much each community should be charged for the service.
yovich@vindy.com