Fort Clatsop fire 911 call dismissed

ASTORIA, Ore. – An emergency dispatcher dismissed the first 911 call to report a fire that eventually destroyed historic Fort Clatsop, a newspaper said Wednesday.

The Daily Astorian reported that a woman who called 911 shortly after 10 p.m. on Oct. 3 to alert dispatchers to what appeared to be a fire on the south side of Youngs Bay was told that what she was seeing was likely just the play of light in the rain and fog.

Not until a second call came to a different dispatcher at the Astoria Police emergency communications center were local firefighters alerted to the blaze, which gutted the 50-year-old replica of the fort where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark camped in 1805 after their expedition reached the Pacific Ocean.

Lewis and Clark Fire District Chief Ian O’Connor obtained a tape recording of the 911 calls and provided it to The Daily Astorian.

“It’s quite disturbing to listen to,” O’Connor said.

The cause remains undetermined, although investigators found no evidence of arson at the scene.

The delay in calling out firefighters because the first call was dismissed likely cost the department about 15 minutes in responding to the blaze, O’Connor said.

The following was recorded in the first 911 call:

Caller: “I see a fire, I’m sure it’s already been reported, but I live on Sonora, on the hill in Astoria. I’m looking over Youngs Bay River…

Dispatcher: “Yeah, it’s kind of foggy and raining out. Sometimes that happens…”

Caller: “…OK…”

Dispatcher: “…yeah, it’s not a fire.”

Caller: “Really? It looks like a fire on the other side of the river.”

Dispatcher: “Yeah, it’s not a fire.”

About 10 minutes later another person called the 911 center and reached another dispatcher. The woman reported seeing “bright orange flaring, and it flares up and goes down, there’s a lot of smoke with it.”

Astoria City Manager Dan Bartlett said the Police Department is conducting an internal investigation of the incident and the first dispatcher.