NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — As Gabriel Journey was driving home Nov. 12, he came up on a large apartment fire in Norfolk and called 911, but said he remained on hold for about 12 minutes. The city said there was a reason for that.

Journey ultimately scaled the two-story complex to save four people from the burning building himself. After everyone was out, people started asking why it took so long to get someone on the phone. 10 On Your Side went looking for answers.

At the Norfolk Police Operations Center off East Virginia Beach Boulevard, senior operations supervisor Steven Summerlin said the city was actually on the phone with people involved in the fire, and that’s why Journey was on hold.

“The most important thing to tell them is to get out,” Summerlin said. “Sometimes they’re on the phone with us and they don’t know what to do. We have to literally tell them get out of your home. Get everyone else out of the home if your neighbor is home knock on their door, let them know. They need to exit the building.”

He said they were doing that on the phone with people involved. 

“We were doing all those things with residents regarding that fire,” Summerlin said. “So we were doing what we needed to do … understanding that there were probably people waiting to speak to us.” 

With that in mind, Summerlin wanted to remind people that there are several ways to contact 911 if you see an emergency situation.

“They can text and say, ‘Hey I’m at this location. It’s an apartment building. You’re probably getting a lot of 911 calls. I wanna make sure somebody is aware that there is this fire at this location,'” he said. “We would see that on multiple consoles in our 911 center. It’s another tool that we can use.”

If you decide to call and experience a wait time, Summerlin said to never hang up, because it will only delay your wait time.

City officials said they were fully staffed that day, but that they’re always looking to hire. On top of the jobs normal benefits, city leaders are so intent on filling the call center, they’re offering a sign-on bonus of $5,000 upon completion of a probationary period. 

If you or someone you know wants to be a part of the solution, you can click here to view all available jobs with the city of Norfolk and apply to be a dispatcher right now.

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