Dispatchers suspended for mistake in fatal fire

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By WSBT News1

Story Created: Feb 5, 2009 at 7:35 AM EST

Story Updated: Feb 5, 2009 at 7:35 AM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Two Fort Wayne emergency dispatchers have been suspended without pay for sending crews to the wrong address in a fatal fire.

A 23-year-old pregnant woman and her two young sons died in the Jan. 17 blaze. Fire department officials maintain the mix-up did not affect the outcome of the fire.

One dispatcher was suspended for 12 days and another was suspended for 4 days. Director of Communications Tina Taviano says both dispatchers "took this pretty hard because they care about what they do."

Taviano says both dispatchers failed to follow accuracy standards for verifying an address. The dispatchers initially set fire crews to an address on West Jefferson Boulevard, rather than East Jefferson.

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