Poor Communication Caused Slow Response To Lemoore Fire

08/01/2007 (KFSN) -- Lemoore fire officials say a communication issue caused a two minute delay in responding to a deadly apartment fire.

Lemoore's fire chief said Wednesday, when fire crews were first notified about the fire they didn't receive any details on the emergency.

The Kings County Sheriff's Department, which dispatches for Lemoore, says it's investigating to figure out what happened.

Fire officials say they have determined the fire started on the patio of the bottom apartment.

The 5 victims were all staying on the top floor, and died of smoke inhalation.

It took eight minutes for firefighters to arrive on the scene. At that point, the Lemoore fire chief says it was too dangerous to try to rescue anyone. He says even without the delay, it would have been too late to save the victims.

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•