I-TEAM UPDATE: Leaders respond to silent alarms in Augusta Fire Department
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s been 24 hours since our I-TEAM broke information about response delays within the Augusta Fire Department.
On Tuesday, the I-TEAM followed up with city leaders and the department leader about the dispatching system.
When lives are in danger, seconds can mean the difference between life and death.
In our I-TEAM report “Silent Alarm”, we exposed how it wasn’t seconds, but more than four minutes before firefighters arrived at a house fire.
The bodies of Teresa Ingram and Rex Williams were found inside just steps from the front door.
Fire Station 16 was just across the street.
And it wasn’t an isolated case.
Our I-TEAM report exposed communication failures or delays in firefighters responding and tracked the problem happening since 2021.
SEE THE CONTRACT:
Just one day after our report aired, city leaders and Fire Chief Antonio Burden arrived for a meeting of the city’s public safety committee.
The I-TEAM has been requesting an interview with the fire chief, and on Tuesday, he said he had no comment after our report.
Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight oversees the public safety committee. She said she “would get up to speed” on what we reported.
The interim city also did not comment on Tuesday.
SEE THE RESPONSE FROM AUGUSTA FIRE DEPARTMENT:
This problem has been occurring since 2021, despite the city telling us they’ve known about the problem and that they’re looking into it.
On Tuesday, we went to get answers about your safety.
They did not want to talk.
These issues were not on Tuesday’s agenda for the public safety committee meeting.
The I-TEAM is now looking into past meetings to see how often or how little this safety concern has been discussed and what steps your elected officials are taking to fix it.
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