Baltimore fire officials have tweaked a new dispatch policy amid an investigation into why an engine was turned away from the scene of a house fire last week.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the city began looking into the matter after audio of firefighters being ordered to leave the scene was posted on the internet.
According to the communications, Engine 31 from Waverly responded to a house fire at 7:17 p.m. on Friday. The incident involved "reports of a fire on a second-floor kids' bedroom" with "smoke showing on the second floor."
Engine 31 was near the scene in Northeast Baltimore's Coldstream Homestead Montebello neighborhood and attempted to help.
"I can see this box," the officer in charge of the engine says. "I'm going to have a plug in front of the building. Assign me to this fire."
A dispatcher responds, "Engine 31, that's a negative."
The officer then tries again and calls a battalion chief. "We're down the street from this call," he says. "We're in front of a plug. Do you want us on this box?"
"Negative at this time," was the battalion chief's response.
The Baltimore Fire Department recently started using GPS in its apparatus dispatch protocols after engines, ladder trucks and other units had previously responded to fires within their area of coverage - or "box."
The department on Monday updated the new policy so that battalion chiefs can authorize an additional crew if its close to a fire after GPS dispatch has already been assigned.
Department spokesperson Blair Skinner said officials are aware of the incident, but she would not respond to the Sun's questions about whether there were injuries during the incident, the extent of the damage and how long it took for another engine to arrive.
"We are looking into this," she said, adding that the reason the engine was turned away "is currently under investigation."
