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Jul 28, 2008 12:06 pm US/Central
911 Dispatcher Remembers 1st Bridge Collapse Call
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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The collapse of the 35W Bridge claimed lives and caused injuries, but the catastrophe also brought out Minnesota's best with a rapid response. The Interstate 35W sticker on the headset isn't the only reminder a certain dispatcher has of that August day.
CBS
The day of August 1st, 2007 is the anniversary of when the Interstate 35W Bridge collapsed.
The collapse of the 35W Bridge claimed lives and caused injuries, but the catastrophe also brought out Minnesota's best with a rapid response.
The Interstate 35W sticker on her headset isn't the only reminder that 911 dispatcher, Robin Semmens, has of that August evening.
"It was a calm day. It was actually pretty quiet. There was a Twins game that day –- it was a nice day outside and we were all saying, 'wow, it's really quiet for such a nice day.'"
Then, at 6:05 pm, utter chaos occurred. The first frantic call came from a witness somewhere along west river parkway.
"The bridge collapsed! Somewhere in central Minneapolis. People are all over the place," screamed the panicked first caller.
"She told me there was a bus and kids involved," Robin said. "And that the bridge collapsed. The whole bridge collapsed."
In the audio file, there are screams in the background as she tries to tell Robin where the bridge collapse site is.
"I actually took a call from a man gentleman named Brian. He was on the bridge. He was in the water and got to a mound of dirt. He called it an island that was right beside the bridge. "
What he said next revealed the magnitude of the disaster.
"He told me that at least 25 cars went in the water and that's when I knew it was a catastrophe and it wasn't gonna be good," Robin said.
There was pandemonium in the dispatching office beyond anyone's imagination. Robin and fellow dispatchers were flooded with calls. Robin has had ten years on the job and had never experienced such a barrage of emergency calls.
"I've never seen anything like that and it continued for at least an hour," said Robin.
Robin says staying methodical and keeping cool in such madness is critical. Meantime, other emergency calls didn't stop for the bridge collapse.
"What people don't necessarily know either is that while that was going on I was taking other phone calls for people that weren't involved in the bridge. I had two medical calls and I had get help out for them as well. It truly makes you realize that we are the first of the first responders, because if we weren't here nobody would know where to go."
Finally, the next morning Robin went home and turned on the news to finally have images from so many calls. That's when it hit home for her.
"And you just think, how horrible, it's really sad and it bothers you, and you never forget it."
Robin has a Interstate 35W sticker on her phone to remind her of the night the bridge fell.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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