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Fire Call Hits Close Home 911 Dispatcher - Sciences, Education, Art, Writing, UFO - Posted: 30th Sep, 2009 - 3:28pm
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Fire call hits close to home for 911 dispatcher
He admitted he thought it was a joke in the beginning. Who would have thought that he would answer a call from one of his neighbors telling him his own house was on fire!
QUOTE (CNN) -- From baby deliveries to unexpected deaths, Mike Bowes, a 911 dispatcher from Quincy, Massachusetts, has handled a wide range of emergency calls.
But Monday night, the 44-year-old received an unexpected call from his neighbor: His own house was on fire.
The 911 call came in about 10:45 p.m. Monday, a little more than an hour before Mike Bowes' shift ended.
My neighbor's house just blew up, the caller said.
"What's the address?" Mike Bowes asked patiently, just as he did with every emergency call for the past 11 years with the Quincy Police Department.
The caller frantically relayed the address, Bowes' home address for 20 years.
"It was shocking," Mike Bowes said. "I thought she was kidding. It's a long shot. I mean, what's the chances it will be your house?"
Out of 90,000 people who reside in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Mike Bowes' was the home in flames, and he had answered the emergency call.
Thoughts raced through his mind: Are my parents OK? Are the neighbors safe? What about my stuff?
Following procedure, Mike Bowes transferred the call to the fire department. Soon, dozens of calls about the fire from other neighbors began to pour into the control room. Video Watch Mike Bowes talk about the fire »
One of the callers was his mother, Elizabeth Bowes, 68. She and her husband, Donald Bowes, 72, had escaped unharmed.
About 10:45 p.m., Elizabeth Bowes was reading a novel in the kitchen when she heard the explosion and saw flames shoot through the kitchen window. She ran to wake her husband in a first-floor bedroom.
There was also a landlord living in upstairs. Firefighters arrived within minutes and helped her to safety.
Within five minutes of receiving the call, police escorted Mike Bowes to his home. He could see the fire light up the dark sky from afar. Anxious neighbors gathered in the park nearby. He was relieved to find his parents together on the sidewalk.
"My parents are alive; my neighbors are alive," he said. "It's an inconvenience, but we'll get through it."
In another coincidence, one of the first firefighters to arrive on scene was Mike Bowes' cousin, Tom Bowes.
But Monday night, the 44-year-old received an unexpected call from his neighbor: His own house was on fire.
The 911 call came in about 10:45 p.m. Monday, a little more than an hour before Mike Bowes' shift ended.
My neighbor's house just blew up, the caller said.
"What's the address?" Mike Bowes asked patiently, just as he did with every emergency call for the past 11 years with the Quincy Police Department.
The caller frantically relayed the address, Bowes' home address for 20 years.
"It was shocking," Mike Bowes said. "I thought she was kidding. It's a long shot. I mean, what's the chances it will be your house?"
Out of 90,000 people who reside in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Mike Bowes' was the home in flames, and he had answered the emergency call.
Thoughts raced through his mind: Are my parents OK? Are the neighbors safe? What about my stuff?
Following procedure, Mike Bowes transferred the call to the fire department. Soon, dozens of calls about the fire from other neighbors began to pour into the control room. Video Watch Mike Bowes talk about the fire »
One of the callers was his mother, Elizabeth Bowes, 68. She and her husband, Donald Bowes, 72, had escaped unharmed.
About 10:45 p.m., Elizabeth Bowes was reading a novel in the kitchen when she heard the explosion and saw flames shoot through the kitchen window. She ran to wake her husband in a first-floor bedroom.
There was also a landlord living in upstairs. Firefighters arrived within minutes and helped her to safety.
Within five minutes of receiving the call, police escorted Mike Bowes to his home. He could see the fire light up the dark sky from afar. Anxious neighbors gathered in the park nearby. He was relieved to find his parents together on the sidewalk.
"My parents are alive; my neighbors are alive," he said. "It's an inconvenience, but we'll get through it."
In another coincidence, one of the first firefighters to arrive on scene was Mike Bowes' cousin, Tom Bowes.
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TOPIC: Fire call hits close to home for 911 dispatcher