By Jennifer Stagg and Paul Nelson, Deseret News
Herriman, Utah — Problems with the standard phone emergency notification system may have been the reason some residents affected by the Camp Williams fire weren’t told to evacuate until they had no time to grab anything.

“Having to leave the house that fast, and having to leave everything we had put aside, we never had a chance to get anything out,” said resident Stephen Shields, who had to leave behind medical equipment to treat his sleep apnea. Sunday night’s evacuation wasn’t the first time Shields has had to leave his home because of a fire from Camp Williams but it was certainly the fastest.

“We just didn’t figure we had any problems because before they always warned us way early to get prepared for it,” Shields said. “This time we had no warning. They didn’t come and warn us at all.”

Shields watched the flames race down the hill above his house just as he heard a police officer on a loud speaker driving down the street, telling people to get out immediately.

One reason Shields received no advance warning could have been that he never received the 9-1-1 call, which is a primary method local police and fire authorities use to quickly relay critical information to the public. Only about 60% of the 9-1-1 calls sent out by Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC), went through, officials said Tuesday.

When the reverse 9-1-1 calls went out, some phone lines were busy, some had an outdated phone number and some residents hung up immediately because they thought it was a solicitation. The reverse 9-1-1 number shows up as long distance, which some residents block or ignore. Aware of the problem, law enforcement sent emergency responders out to notify residents in person while strong winds pushed the fire closer to homes, said Unified Police Lt. Don Hutson.

“Right up until the fire was in the backyards of many houses there were officers and firefighters that were attempting to make contact with people, literally risking their lives,” Hutson said. “We did the best that we could with what we had and we made every effort to try to contact people.”

Officials from VECC are asking people who get a call from the system to listen to the full message and follow the instructions. Public Information Officer Geana Randall said people who get a call need to press certain keys at the end of the recording. “If they didn’t press one of those numbers, then the information that’s captured by the software indicates to us that that’s a hang up,” Randall said.

Another gap in the notification system is that some people don’t have land lines anymore and rely on cell phones. But cell numbers aren’t in the VECC system unless residents register them. Officials are urging people to register their cell phones as well as voice over internet phone (VoIP) numbers with the reverse 911 system.

“We’ve actually asked our agencies that we deal with and the cities that we deal with to make the notifications to their citizens, whether that’s in a utility bill or in their hometown newspaper,” Randall said.

She says some cities like Cottonwood Heights are very effective at getting the word out, but others have a ways to go. Those with only cell phones or VoIP service can register by clicking http://166.70.83.157:8080/voip/login.php.

Before evacuating your home: Collect all important papers and documents, including banking, insurance and financial information as well as bills and checkbook. Think carefully about what items are easily replaceable by insurance and what items are not, like family heirlooms, keepsakes and pictures. If you don’t have an up-to-date home inventory, walk through your home with a video or still camera. At the same time, make a list of what items you want to take during an evacuation. An inventory can help facilitate the claim process.

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