EVERETT — The company that provides emergency dispatching technology to Snohomish County has acknowledged problems that caused a delay in sending additional firefighters to a massive warehouse blaze along the Everett riverfront earlier this month.
In a June 23 letter to Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, company leaders wrote: “We agree — it should not have taken as long as it did.”
But Texas-based Tyler Technologies said the trouble seen that night with its New World Systems software is not “indicative of a systematic, fundamental flaw.”
They attributed the delay to a variety of factors, both procedural and conditions that night “that confronted both the dispatchers and the software.”
Within minutes of arriving on scene the evening of June 4, Everett crews asked emergency dispatchers to upgrade the response to a second alarm that would bring in another wave of firefighters, rigs and resources. What should have happened in seconds took nearly 23 minutes, according to public records.
Local firefighters directed blame at the New World software.
The New World company, of Michigan, was sold last year to Tyler Technologies. The software launched here in October — years behind schedule — is used by dispatchers, police officers, firefighters and jail staff to conduct their daily business.
Stephanson wrote the company June 15, calling the troubles “simply unacceptable.”
“I am concerned that the lack of a consistently reliable system is leaving our crews and residents vulnerable to serious risks,” Stephanson wrote.
In some cases, the fire department has built redundancies into its communication system in the event of a New World failure, the mayor wrote.
“Dispatchers and emergency responders have a host of challenges to deal with in the middle of a major emergency, and a software system should not be one of them,” Stephanson wrote.
Leaders from Tyler Technologies wrote Stephanson that they are increasing resources in Snohomish County, providing more training and doing more to tailor and troubleshoot services to the county’s dispatch centers, SNOPAC in Everett and SNOCOM in Mountlake Terrace.
“I am pleased that they are allocating additional resources to address identified issues, implement fixes and support additional training as needed in order to ensure that Snohomish County has a dependable dispatch system,” Stephanson said Tuesday.
Company leaders defended their product, telling Stephanson that they couldn’t agree with his suggestion that there is a pattern of issues with the software.
The mayor said he looks forward to meeting with company leaders in the coming month to learn more about how they plan to deliver on their commitment.
Since New World went live in the fall it has been used to dispatch more than 440,000 calls.
The cause of the June 4 fire remains under investigation, Everett fire marshal Eric Hicks said Tuesday.
The warehouse and land had an assessed value of $4.84 million. A damage estimate is still being calculated.
“We are working with the insurance adjusters just getting their take on the value,” Hicks said.
The property had been the location of a recycling business that was shut down by authorities in 2014 over health and safety concerns. Fire officials and the property’s owners were concerned about materials that had been stockpiled on the site.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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