(The following story by Paul Levy appeared on the Star Tribune website on August 18, 2010.)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — When Anoka County dispatcher Geoff Olson learned that an out-of-control pickup truck had narrowly missed an electrical transformer and was now on railroad tracks, he didn’t notify the police, an ambulance or a tow truck. He called Burlington Northern Santa Fe and asked the railroad to stop all trains in the area.
It is a rarely made call — one that disrupts train schedules, potentially costing the railroad money. Last Thursday, the call and BNSF’s response may have saved the truck driver’s life.
A southbound freight train came to a halt 200 yards from the truck, according to a BNSF spokeswoman.
“We had no clue,” Olson said when asked whether he or others in the Anoka County communications center knew how close the train was.
They never know. The dispatchers can’t see what a caller is so frantically trying to describe, said Linda Hanson, Anoka County’s 911 coordinator.
“We don’t see people,” Hanson said. “We don’t see them pointing.”
25 seconds from disaster
This time, a passerby called at 10:48 a.m. and reported that a white pickup truck “was driving out of control, down into the ditch and appeared to be on the tracks” in Coon Rapids. The truck had apparently hit a minivan on Main Street, crossed oncoming traffic on Round Lake Boulevard and headed down an embankment. The 56-year-old driver apparently had a medical problem before losing control of the vehicle.
After getting the call from Anoka County dispatch, BNSF contacted the train crew, said BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth.
Through the coordinated actions, a disaster was averted by perhaps 25 seconds.
The driver, whom officials did not identify, was taken to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. This week, a police spokesman said that the man was alive but that he didn’t have further information on his condition.
Quiet morning
Olson, who works 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., was one of six dispatchers on duty when the call came through.
The phones always seem to be ringing at the center, although it was pretty quiet that morning. During the day, the calls are usually requests for medical assistance. As the day goes on, more calls come in about domestic altercations or with complaints stemming from parties or about explosives, Olson said.
“I just had a call from a guy who said he woke up and there were five guys in his house — and that his wife was having a relationship with one of the burglars,” Olson said. “The guy was mentally challenged. We get those calls.”
But Olson, 29, seemed to know what to anticipate before he became a 911 dispatcher eight years ago. He was in the Police Explorer program growing up in Anoka. He grew up listening to a scanner “and could never turn it off,” he said. He continues to listen to a police scanner at home, even after he’s done working.
He said the communications center receives four or five calls per week concerning problems near the railroad tracks. The most common trouble spot, he said, is the area between the Ferry Street and Fourth Street crossings. Sometimes the calls concern crossing arm malfunctions, he said. Other times, the calls are about kids jumping off the bridge.
Burlington Northern’s Resource Operations Center is staffed 24 hours a day for emergency calls to 800-832-5452, McBeth said. The number is posted at crossings.
On most calls, Olson tells the informant to take a deep breath, be calm and give the best information possible. This time, he knew exactly what he had to do — and he needed to do it immediately. He asked BNSF to stop all train traffic.
Once dispatchers are through with a call, they move on to the next one. It’s rare that they learn of any outcome.
“We wonder all the time,” Olson said. “This particular call was a team effort. And to find out how it turned out. … It’s pretty amazing I had a role in that.”