CROWN HEIGHTS – The firefighter’s union alleges that a delay by dispatchers was partially responsible for the death of a man and his two children following an apartment fire yesterday.

The FDNY was dispatched to a house fire at 12:27 p.m., however, the FDNY claims that two separate 9-1-1 calls by civilians made it difficult for dispatchers to send crews to the correct location, according to the New York Post.

The initial dispatch had firefighters dispatched to Rogers Avenue, one block away from the actual fire scene at 654 St. Marks Avenue.  Crews from Engine 280/Ladder 132 responded to the Rogers Avenue location, however a civilian on scene directed them to the St. Marks location.

Two different FDNY press hacks told the Post that dispatchers were given incomplete information from 9-1-1 callers.

The Deputy Chief in command of the scene told the Post that it took eight minutes for firefighters to respond to the correct location due to incomplete information.  However, Jim Long of the FDNY press office reported that trucks were at the correct address in six minutes.

Another flack for the FDNY elaborated on the incomplete information claims:

“They were dispatched based on information from two 911 callers — both via cellphones — reporting a fire in the vicinity of Rogers Avenue and Prospect Avenue,” said … FDNY spokesman, Frank Gribbon. “[They] learned upon their arrival at the callers’ location that the fire was around the corner. The units immediately proceeded to that location.”

However, it proved to be too late for Myrtel Jean, 42, and his two toddler sons, Fabrice, 2, and Sebastian, 1.  All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

This is the second fatal house fire that the Uniformed Firefighters Association claimed that was caused by a dispatching error.  Crews in Woodside, Queens, were dispatched to the wrong address for a working fire on November 7 in which three men died.

NYPD Det. Nivrose Duncan of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South - Recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Award

The NYPD honored a detective assigned to the Patrol Borough Brooklyn South for his service to the West Indian community after returning to work following an emergency liver transplant three years ago.

Det. Nivrose Duncan, a native of Haiti who is fluent in Creole and French who is assigned to the Community Affairs Unit at PBBS, recieved the Theodore Roosevelt Award last month.  Det. Duncan had maintained an excellent attendance record before his medical condition required an emergency liver transplant in 2006.  One week after the transplant, Det. Duncan went through a second emergency surgery which corrected complications caused by the initial transplant.  Det. Duncan returned to the job less than a year later.

Today, Det. Duncan’s responsibilities include serving as a liason to the West Indian community in Brooklyn.  He is one of the organizers of the West Indian-American Day Carnival, which takes place annually on Labor Day weekend and culminates in a Labor Day parade along Eastern Parkway between Utica Avenue, Crown Heights, and Flatbush Avenue, Prospect Heights.

The award is named after the former President of the United States who, prior to serving in the Oval Office, presided over the New York City Police Commission from 1895 to 1897.  President Roosevelt had suffered from a debilitating heart condition and childhood asthma, yet perservered to become the Secretary of the United States Navy and Governor of New York State before he became president in 1901.  The award is presented to members of the NYPD who returned to the job after severe medical hardships.

Det. Duncan was one of six NYPD officers who were honored at an October 27 ceremony in Manhattan by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

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