EBENSBURG, CAMBRIA COUNTY — A weekend fire is raising questions over the effectiveness of Cambria County’s recently upgraded 911 communication systems.
On Friday the Dauntless Fire Company in Ebensburg responded to a house fire. Firefighters said issues with the 911 system kept them from getting there as quickly as possible.
Sources with the department did not want to be indentified, but they tell WTAJ news they were not alerted when the call first went out. They said there was a four to five minute delay until they finally knew about the fire.
911 communication records confirm there was a problem with notifying the department.
The records show the initial call went out at 9:22 pm. Two minutes later, members of the fire company notified dispatchers. They said they were aware of the call, but their pagers and sirens were not activated.
The county upgraded its emergency communication system in April. But since then there has been at least one other incident where firefighters said they had trouble relaying information.
In September, fire destroyed Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Gallitzin Township. Members of the Gallitzin Fire Department said they had major issues communicating with each other.
In that fire and the one Friday night, those involved said they were worried the problems stemmed from the 911 upgrades.
On Monday WTAJ news questioned county officials about the reported problems.
Carol Peretin, the county’s 911 director, said problems with the Dauntless Fire Department on Friday were due to a computer glitch. Peretin said it had nothing to do with upgrades done to the communication system earlier this year.
"It was an isolated incident, it happened once; we haven’t been able to duplicate it. It’s pretty much like trying to find a needle in a haystack," she said.
Peretin said the problems experienced by the Gallitzin Fire Department have been addressed and resolved.
WTAJ news also raised the issue with Cambria County Commissioner P.J. Stevens. He was unaware of Friday’s communication issue with Dauntless, but said a monthly meeting is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in which anyone with concerns over the emergency communications system can have their issues addressed in a public forum.
That meeting is at the courthouse at 3:00 pm.
