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Witnesses question handling of fatal fire

January 23rd, 2012 by WCBC Radio

Several eye witnesses to the early Friday morning fire in Cumberland that took the lives of two young children have serious concerns with the manner in which officials handled the incident. One woman tells WCBC News that she and a neighbor took a ladder to the burning house after seeing the children in the window screaming. Only one police officer was on the scene at the time, and the woman says he prevented any effort to save the children saying that fire units were on the way. Police Chief Charlie Hinnant tells WCBC News that the incident is being investigated. He did emphasize that protocol for officers during such incidents is to restore order and make sure the public remains at a safe distance from the scene- and that they do not interfere in fire fighting efforts.

8 Responses to “Witnesses question handling of fatal fire”

  1. January 23, 2012 at 10:05 am, Tammy said:

    This is truly a tragedy of the media….why are you going after any public service agency? There were 4 adults in that house and how did they get out and not go after the children before they got themselves out. Why did the family not have smoke detectors in their house?

    So sad that Dave Norman yet again does his thing.

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  2. January 23, 2012 at 11:54 am, Todd said:

    Police officials should have been trying to do what they can to save two innocent children from burning before they burned in a fire. ANY normal human being would have kicked into action to save the children just like these people was going to.. That officer should be fired and live with the guilt that these two people are going to live with.. That could be the one chance those kids had! TO HELL WITH RULES WHEN IT COMES TO LIVES BEING SAVED!!! DO YOU THINK ON 9/11 THOSE PEOPLE FOLLOWED PROTOCOL?

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  3. January 23, 2012 at 12:25 pm, trudie said:

    Dave,
    I don’t know what happened this morning, but I do know that if the cops did prevent these two people from attempted to safe the two little girls, he had a very good reason for doing so…and maybe one of these reasons is he didn’t want to have to more victims….a fire can get very hot and dangerous very fast, and without the right protective gear things can go seriously wrong…there’s a reason why the firefighters wear the gear they do…any if you honestly think you know everything about this and fighting fire maybe you need to go take some classes on this and learn why the firefighters wear what they do to fight fires..

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  4. January 23, 2012 at 4:57 pm, sandra said:

    I am sorry but children are a gift of god and i know what it is like to lose a child.. I personally would of made sure i got to that family with or with out the cops concern. that cop is a human being no matter what his excuses should be if he was a concerned person he would of made a attempt and took that chance of losing his Badge it’s only right as of being a human who has a heart!

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  5. January 23, 2012 at 5:57 pm, Sierra said:

    I believe that the officer should have let the neighbors take the ladder and get those two little girls out of the window. The two little girls would still be alive today If the officer would have let them get the little girls. I believe that the officer should be charged with murder

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    • January 25, 2012 at 9:41 am, Angie said:

      > Who should be charged with murder? The officer who was the first on the scene and tried to enter the rear of the building that was already in a blaze?! The fact that he wouldn't allow people to put themselves in a situation they had absolutely no training to handle does not make him a murderer. Ever stood next to grill when you open the lid? Imagine that but, HUNDREDS of degrees hotter! Some things are just NOT physically possible, as much as you want to, without that protective gear. When you open a window of a burning house you fuel the fire and cause strong bursts of flames, possibly an explosion, the girls wouldn't have stood a chance!! He was doing what he thought would be their best chance at survival! Had I been there I would have wanted to climb that ladder and get them out as well, but he was trained and knew that would have been the worst thing for them. You know what would have saved their lives?! A smoke detector! Those girls would likely ran out with the all the adults in there and be alive if there had been a working smoke detector in that house!!

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  6. January 24, 2012 at 9:37 am, Tammy said:

    How terrible that the community is trying to blame the death of these two precious little girls on a person that was there to help? You would be bad mouthing that same officer if the neighbor would have gone up the ladder, knocked out the window, and caused the house to exploded killing himself and all those around the house.

    What about the fact that there were no working smoke detectors and somehow a fire started in the living room? Who’s fault is that?

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  7. January 28, 2012 at 3:57 pm, Robert said:

    Once again lets play, “The Blame Game”, americas favorite. There isn’t one among you that has the faintest idea what you are talking about, and all started up by the one who knows least of all. Unfortunatly that person has a voice on the radio….its a shame he couldnt use it for something useful, something with substance. Rather…this cheap person uses the death of children to score rating with the local gray mindless masses. It must be lonly up there in your ivory tower, huh Dave? None of you would have the guts to deal with the daily chaos and random acts of stupidity that the police handle,…I mean, why participate in the game when you can just shout ridicule from the sidelines. Bad things happen. Those involved try thier best to do the right thing, I can’t imagine for a second what that fire must have been like, Im not a firefighter, those who were there did thier job, and pointing a finger changes nothing.

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