By Howard Riedel
Buffalo, NY – Police officials say no human error was involved in the 15 minute delay in responding to a 911 call about a fatal house fire in Cheektowaga Wednesday. A call for help was placed shortly before 3:00am, but because it was made on a cell phone, the outdated local 911 system routed the call to Buffalo first, then to Depew and finally Cheektowaga based on the location of the cell phone tower.
It took police an additional 15 minutes to respond to the fire that took the life of 60 year old Mohammad Ansari and two women in the house believed to be his daughters. 26 year old Faaiza Ansari was a medical student at the University at Buffalo; 22 year old Saaiba Ansari was a mechanical engineering major at UB.
Mohammad Ansara was a 1978 graduate of UB. The university's Vice President of Student Affairs, Dennis Black, says the thoughts and prayers of the university community go out to the victims' family.