Human error and a Fire Department dispatch system that’s “unduly complicated and unacceptably flawed” delayed the response to a Queens fire in April that took the lives of two 4-year-olds, city investigators found.
Jai’Launi Tinglin and his half-sister Aniya Tinglin died from smoke inhalation on the eve of Easter Sunday when a fire roared through the basement of their Far Rockaway home on Bay 30th Street.
By the time EMTs arrived,it was too late.
Fire Department officials said the blaze, which started just before midnight, was caused by children playing with matches. Their grandfather, who was asleep at the time, was able to get another another child out safely, but Aniya and Jai’Launi didn’t make it.
The first 911 call was received at 11:51 p.m., but ambulances didn’t arrive until 12:12 a.m., 21 minutes later, officials said.
The months-long Department of Investigation probe concluded that the “highly cumbersome” dispatch system involved at least seven staff members at three agencies that night.
“We must start to overhaul this process immediately,” said DOI Commissioner Mark Peters. “[Our] investigation exposed an antiquated, unwieldy system for dispatching ambulances to the scene of an active fire that substantially increases the opportunity for human error.”
The probe uncovered poor supervision of dispatch staff, which led to the mistaken belief that one of the dispatchers had already notified Emergency Medical Services to send an ambulance.
Firefighters outside the home in Queens where Jai’Launi and Aniya lived.Photo: Demetrius E. Loadholt
A dispatcher with a history of mistakes was also allowed to continue working without reassignment or retraining.
The DOI report dinged the city’s “bifurcated computer-aided dispatch system” for not allowing the FDNY and EMS to share the most basic of information — including the borough in which a fire is located.
That means EMS needs to wait to hear from an FDNY dispatcher before sending out an ambulance.
“We’ve implemented several procedural changes and are investing in technology to make certain that there’s no delay sending ambulances to fires,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro. “Our goal is to do the best job possible on every emergency call we handle and that’s the standard I expect of everyone involved – including our dispatchers.”
Three fire department dispatchers and their supervisor were suspended shortly after DOI launched its probe.
Two of them remain on modified duty pending an internal FDNY probe, according to a spokesman.
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