Pasadena fire chief questions new 911 system following highway crash

A fire chief on the west coast of Newfoundlandis upset that his volunteer department was called late to a highway accident this week,and wants to knowif something needs to be fixed within the 911 system.

Fire chief John Peach said his members weren't notified immediatelywhen a car crashed along the Trans-Canada Highway near Pasadena on Monday.

The policeand an ambulance arrived at the scene, but by the time the volunteer department showed up, the car was already being towed.

Peach said there was a request for hisfire department to arrive but the message wasn't relayed to them right away.

"We have confirmed there was a 35-minute delay," Peach said.

"Now, is that the fault of the new 911 system? No. It is a fault within the system and I don't think the public knows exactly how this system works."

Under the new 911 system, calls come into a call centre in Corner Brook, where operators ask about the emergency and then redirect the calls to theproper agencies.

Peach said he is worried about public perception.

Staff acted correctly

"Our department rolled up on the scene, lights flashing, with a tow truck there and people on the side of the road are saying, 'It took the fire department an hour to get here,' and that's a bad perception," he said.

Peach, however, said he's not worried about any risk to public safety, adding he's speaking up so that people know what happens when people dial 911.

MichaelDwyer,executive director of the NL 911 Bureau, said his staff did what they were trained to do.

"The provincial government ... made it quite clear through the process that it is a call taking and transfer system, not a dispatch system," Dwyer said.

Dwyer added that the call was transferred to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary after the car crash happened. He suggests that fire departments join together tocreate a dispatch system to alert one another, much like the protocols takenby the St. John's Regional Fire Department.

Peach said he would rather a dispatcherreach out to his department directly.