(Nov. 9) -- A 911 operator is being blamed for making a typo on an emergency call that sent New York firefighters to the wrong address as three men died in the actual blaze nearby, the New York Post reported Monday.
As fire crews rushed to 62nd street in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens on Saturday night, the emergency was taking place on 65th street. According to the local firefighters union, a 911 operator entered a "2" in place of a "5" in the street address.
Meanwhile, several residents were trapped in an illegally converted house where a boiler explosion caused a fire to erupt. Three men died in the blaze, and firefighters say they lost crucial time by being sent to the wrong address.
"If we arrived quicker, those people would have a better chance of surviving," a fire official told the Post. "We believe the time difference could be up to 2 1/2 minutes."
For more on this story, visit the New York Post.
