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Updated 11/20/2009 08:42 AM

FDNY Releases 911 Tapes Of Fatal Brooklyn Fire

By: NY1 News

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The Fire Department on Thursday released the 911 tapes from a Brooklyn fire that's now at the center of a dispute between the FDNY and the union over how the department responds to fires.

The union says the response to the fire was delayed because the new 911 dispatch system sent responders to the wrong address.

But the FDNY says the caller didn't give the exact address.

Caller: I'm calling to report a fire.
911 Operator: What borough ma'am?
Caller: Brooklyn.
911 Operator: What's the location? Hello?
Caller: I'm in a building; I'm in a school. It is right back.
911 Operator: Okay, you're breaking up what's the location, ma'am?
Caller: Yes.
911 Operator: What's the location of the fire?
Caller: It is a fire on the top building two windows. There's a lot of smoke.
911 Operator: What street or address?
Caller: I do not know the address. I'm inside a building. I'm looking out the window [and] there's a fire out the window.
911 Operator: Okay. I need...
Caller: Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn.
911 Operator: Rogers and what?
Caller: And Prospect.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta says the firefighters and dispatchers did an excellent job.

"This is not a systems error. This was callers calling in, doing the best they could, by giving the location of where they thought the fire was at an intersection," Scoppetta said. "And so our firefighters were there in less than three minutes. I mean it's astonishing that the union should twist it."

In response to the release of the tapes, union officials released a statement, saying the department failed to release all the tapes and the dispatchers weren't capable of getting the necessary information.

The department says it has no record of any additional 911 calls.

Meanwhile, investigators are looking into whether burning incense sparked the fire that killed 42-year-old Myrtel Jean and his two young sons.

Fire officials say Jean may have wasted precious time trying to put out the flames himself.

They also say the apartment had no smoke detectors.