Rose Marie Presutti's family is waiting to hear how the McKees Rocks woman died in a fire Sunday, shortly after chatting with her daughter about the Steelers game.
Rosemarie Walker of Kennedy said she talked with her 84-year-old mother between 5 and 5:30 p.m., about 20 minutes before police and fire officials received a call about the fire. Walker and other family members sorted through broken glass and charred rubble at Presutti's red-brick home on Ella Street on Monday.
Allegheny County investigators believe the fire likely was accidental, a county spokeswoman said.
A county 911 operator initially tagged the cell phone call reporting the fire as a Pittsburgh emergency, leading to a 52-second delay in dispatching firefighters, 911 manager Bob Harvey said.
Dispatchers caught the mistake during a standard double check, Harvey said. It took less than a minute to re-enter correct information, and the dispatch went straight to McKees Rocks police and fire, he said.
The 911 center's computer system can automatically locate callers, but the caller's cell phone was too old to transmit that data, Harvey said. Miscommunication is not uncommon in 911 calls, and dispatchers caught the mistake during their verification process, he said.
County officials declined to say whether they think the delay was critical. The Medical Examiner's Office had not finalized its autopsy report yesterday afternoon.
Walker and other family members declined comment about the delay.
A nurse was at Presutti's home until about 4:15 p.m. Presutti called her daughter after the Steelers game, Walker said.
Shortly after hanging up, Walker began driving to visit her mother and said she received a call about the fire from a different nurse who had just arrived.
Neighbors and first responders said they weren't able to get inside because of thick smoke and fire.
