Three calls to 911 are up on the LAFD news blog: one from a passenger on the Metrolink train, one from the adjacent school and another from up on the 118 Freeway. Those are the only calls of the hundreds received that will be made public, the blog says.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has received dozens of requests for the release of the 9-1-1 tapes related to the Metrolink incident. Since it would take hundreds of hours to assemble, edit and distribute this information, the probability of fulfilling this request within a reasonable period of time would be doubtful.

Therefore, the LAFD has assembled a small sampling of 9-1-1 calls which are reflective of the type of calls being received during this event. Certain information, such as names, phone numbers, and personally identifiable information has been redacted for privacy reasons.

They can be aggravating to listen to, in part because the personnel taking the calls seem disbelieving and even difficult. I'm sure dispatchers are highly experienced in how best to extract accurate information from panicked callers — and are besieged by bogus 911 calls — but sometimes there just are no answers to the questions asked of 911 callers.