LORTON, Va.--This is the fire where the chief said his crews should have found the woman trapped in the burning home in time to save her.
Almost a month after 49 year old Debra Chiles died in her Lorton, Virginia townhouse, the 911 recordings of her attempts to get help have been released to 9NEWS NOW.
Chiles was still on the phone with 911 more than 2 minutes and 30 seconds after firefighters arrived in front of her home on Cardinal Forest Lane on May 23rd. Between 1:00 a.m. and almost 1:10 a.m. Chiles had three conversations with workers at Fairfax County's Public Safety Communications Center. The call takers tried to reassure her help was on the way.
Chiles was in a third floor bathroom. A 911 worker advised her to wet towels to put over her face and under the door.
On May 30th, then-Interim Fairfax County Fire Chief David Rohr told 9NEWS NOW, despite clutter in the townhome, "they should have found her."
Rohr admits it was a relatively small fire confined to the first floor.
Rohr confirmed that firefighters didn't find Chiles until more than a half-hour after they arrived on the scene. Her body was discovered exactly where Chiles said she was -- the third floor bathroom.
Thursday, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt said a critical incident analysis of the fire is continuing. There is still no explanation why firefighters had trouble finding Debra Chiles.
Schmidt said officials have shared the contents of the recordings with the family of Debra Chiles. A call by 9NEWS NOW to one of her sons has not been returned.
Note on the contents of the recordings:
The 911 recordings include the final words of Debra Chiles. The third conversation with 911, as Chiles is overcome by the smoke, is difficult to listen to. We have only aired a very small portion to shed some light on what happened May 23rd.
Republished with permission of WUSA-TV.
