LORTON, Va.-- "We should have found her." Those are the words of Fairfax County Interim Fire and Rescue Chief David Rohr about the death of Debra Chiles.
9NEWS NOW has learned that the 49 year old Chiles was on the phone with 911 for two minutes after firefighters arrived at her burning Lorton home last Wednesday morning. Chief Rohr said today, "I think we had opportunities to find her."
Chief Rohr confirmed there was no fire on the third floor of the townhouse where Chiles had taken refuge in a bathroom. The fire was confined to the first floor.
Fire officials confirmed Wednesday the accuracy of a timeline 9NEWS NOW put together. The timeline comes from sources familiar with the sequence of events, beginning with Chiles first call to 911 just before 1:00 a.m.
Chief Rohr said Chiles was still on the phone with 911 when the first firefighters arrived. The crews from Rescue 419 and Engine 419 arrived right after each other at around 1:07 a.m.
According to Chief Rohr, 911 workers properly relayed that there was a woman trapped in the third floor bathroom. Rohr said crews went immediately to the third floor.
Despite the use of thermal imaging cameras, Chief Rohr said the firefighters didn't find the woman during their first search.
A second search began after 1:35 a.m. According to Chief Rohr it was sometime during that second search that the woman's body was found. He said at that point it was too late to attempt to revive Chiles.
At the request of 9NEWS NOW, former Alexandria Fire Marshal Michael A. Conner looked at the aftermath of the fire and the floor plan of similar townhomes.
Conner, now a senior investigative analyst for Doptis and Buchanan, called this a relatively small fire. Conner said he is puzzled how firefighters, armed with her specific location, in full protective gear, and a thermal imaging camera, would be unable to find Chiles.
Chief Rohr also said he does not know why firefighters could not find the woman in time to save her. Rohr is hoping a "post-incident analysis" of the events will provide some answers.
Republished with permission of WUSA-TV.
Related Stories
