Ann Arbor Administrator Roger Fraser said confusion over location delayed response to fatal fire

Firefighters search the rubble for family members on Nov. 1.

Mark Bialek | For AnnArbor.com

Three members of the Alexandropoulos family were killed in the blaze in their southwest Ann Arbor home. Their bodies were found at 1701 Waverly Road several hours after an early morning fire caused the home's walls and roof to collapse into the basement.

Fraser said the first call "came from some folks who live in the area and smelled smoke, got up from their home and drove into the neighborhood trying to find the location where there might be smoke coming from a property, and they located a home on Greenview."

"They called in because there was a lot of black smoke emanating from the chimney and there was nobody home, and they were concerned that this was the location of that smell and that call came in approximately 2:53 in the morning," Fraser said. "We actually dispatched two trucks to that location at that time, from two different stations, and when they got there, it was plain that that was not the (location)."

Fraser said another 911 call was made from a residence to the west of Greenview. The caller reported spotting a fire to the east, "and their address was on Waverly," Fraser said.

"Whether or not they actually meant the place across the street from them or not, we don't know," Fraser said. "But the fact is that they did not specify that."

Fraser said the first dispatch the city received with the correct address came at about 3:06 a.m. He said the police department then responded within a minute, and the fire department was there in two minutes.

Fraser said the geographic layout of the neighborhood was another challenge.

"It's quite a matrix of streets for which there is not direct access to particularly this block," he said. "You have to get at it indirectly through several different side streets and it's very difficult to find, particularly if you don't have a specific address and that was part of the dilemma.

"We got incomplete information and, given what was going on at that time of the morning, it was very difficult to isolate where that was occurring based on information we got from calls."

Council Member Marcia Higgins, D-4th Ward, said she talked people who were near the scene.

"They did say that when the firefighters came it was fully engaged - there were flames coming out of the roof and the firefighters did an extraordinary job of containing those flames," she said.

"I believe it's also likely that when the first call came that that home was already fully engaged, so the information came late," Fraser added. "There was no indication on the property that there were smoke detectors ... and we have a lot of information about the scene that indicated that these folks probably got trapped by a fire that started in the basement."

The cause of the fire has not been determined. The county Medical Examiner's Office previously said Demetri, Joanna and John Alexandropoulos died of smoke inhalation. John Alexandropoulos, 42, also had a brain hemorrhage, but it's unclear whether that occurred before or during the fire, officials said.

Mayor John Hieftje said one lesson everyone can learn from the tragedy is to check the batteries and connections of their smoke detectors.

Fraser added to that.

"Our request is that if you have such an incident that you're unfortunately involved with, please give us as specific information as you can when you call," he said. "Because at that time, in the context of what was going on, our firefighters knew nothing more than the fact that that Greenview address could have been the location that they were all talking about."

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.