Cleveland dispatchers were unable to reach emergency responders early Monday morning for a period of several minutes after reports of a building fire in Ohio City, according to Cleveland Police Dispatch and Cuyahoga Emergency Communications System recordings.
Residents reported a fire on the sixth floor of the CMHA Lakeview Estates high-rise apartment building along Washington Avenue near West 28th Street.
The four occupants of the apartment made it out safely but residents reported heavy smoke throughout the 19-story building.
“I was scared for everyone,” said Tina Stewart, who lives on the eleventh floor and said she encountered heavy smoke.
But radio conversations revealed that dispatchers initially had difficulty contact fire crews.
“Be advised were not able to get a hold of fire or Cleveland. Their lines are down,” one voice said several minutes after information on the fire came in. “I’m trying all the different emergency lines, I can’t get ahold of anything.”
It wasn’t until about seven minutes after an initial transmission that a dispatcher was heard saying that he had finally gotten ahold of Cleveland police and fire.
A Cleveland police source told newsnet5.com that the issue had to do with the service provider and the call lines were unavailable during that period of time.
A spokesman for Cleveland Fire would not confirm whether that was the cause and said he had no comment at this time as he continues to investigate what may have happened.
A CECOMS 911 recording also showed that the lines were down when a CMHA officer called in to report the fire.
Newsnet5.com also reached out to Cleveland police about the issue but did not receive a response.
