Fatal Elmont fire sparks 911 complaints

Nassau police are investigating claims that their 911 emergency system did not work as planned when several callers attempting to report an Elmont house fire where a resident died were put on hold instead.

Authorities said rescuers were on the Madison Street scene about five minutes after the calls began Monday night.

After the fire was extinguished, the body of a 33-year-old man was found inside a bathroom of the two-story colonial he shared with his parents at 1559 Madison St., said Vincent McManus of the county fire marshal's office.

Police didn't release the name of the man found dead in the house. The blaze appears to have started in the kitchen, but investigators haven't been able to more conclusively identify the origin of the fire, McManus said.

Several residents said when they called to report the fire, which police said started at about 6 p.m., they were put on hold and heard a recording telling them to wait.

"It's pretty scary, you know, that when you really need them the most, they're not there," said Fabian Ramirez, 38, who lives next door to the burned-out home.

Nassau police spokesman Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said that soon after the fire started, 911 operators received several calls, which registered as hang-ups.

Smith said the department will look into what may have caused the problems.

Monday night's glitch came just days after Nassau police moved their 911 call center to a new building in Westbury from its old spot below police headquarters in Mineola.

Between 6:10 and 6:14 p.m. on Monday, operators received eight calls from Madison Street that appeared to the operators to be callers hanging up, Smith said.

Three neighbors interviewed Tuesday afternoon said they tried calling Monday, but hung up after hearing the recording, some repeatedly.

Smith said callers should stay on the line because, if they hang up, they go to the end of the queue when they call back.

One of the callers was Kim Santoli, 45, who lives across the street from the home that burned, she said.

Santoli said her cell phone showed she called at 6:09 p.m. and waited for 46 seconds before hanging up. She said she called again at 6:10 p.m. and waited for more than a minute before hanging up again. She called again at 6:24 p.m. before hanging up. Her husband dialed the fire department directly.

"It was so frustrating, standing in the middle of the street dialing 911 and not being able to do anything about it," she said.

Ana McHugh, another caller who hung up after a getting a recording, said Monday night was not the first time she has had trouble getting through to report an emergency.

To demonstrate, she reached for her home phone in front of a reporter Tuesday and twice dialed 911. Each time a recording came on: "The next available operator will take your call."