911 Dispatcher Answers Call — Finds Out Own House is on Fire

ABC's Bradley Blackburn reports from New York:

9-1-1 dispatcher Mike Bowes of Quincy, Massachusetts has handled thousands of emergency calls, with lives on the line every time he picks up the phone.  But when he answered a call on Monday night, he was stunned to hear that he was part of the emergency.  The voice on the line was his neighbor, telling him that his own home was on fire, with his family inside.

Bowes told the Boston Herald: “The first [call] said, ‘My neighbor’s house and garage are on fire.’ I said ‘What’s the address?’ She said ‘My address is 105. The address there is 99 Hollis Ave.’ I thought ‘That’s my house!’ … I turned around and I was like ‘Sergeant – It’s my house.’”

Bowes patched the call through to the fire department, and his colleagues from the police department rushed him to his home, still in flames.  He found his family safe on the street, but the building and all his belongings were badly damaged.

Despite the trauma of the situation, Bowes is in good spirits and thankful that everyone made it out of the fire okay.  “It was shocking,” he told CNN, “I mean, what are the chances it will be your house?”