VIDEO: Crews say the day a person needs to call 911, it’s one of the worse days of their life.
Charlotte Fire didn’t get that call for help right away.
“There was some sort of delay in dialing 911, a five-to-six-minute delay, so we were already behind the eight ball with that,” a CFD communications officer described Thursday, a week removed from the 5-Alarm fire in the SouthPark community.
That delay is still part of the investigation.
When the Ladder 6 crew arrived, it was just smoke coming out of the building.
“In just a few minutes, everything changed,” said Capt. Brian Benson. “Smoke got heavier; we started hearing reports of people trapped in the building. So, my crew transitioned from a firefighting role to a rescue role.”
One firefighter was standing on the third floor.
“I spotted the victims, and I heard the screaming,” added Chris McMillan, a firefighter with Ladder 6.