Listen to Dave Ross Commentary: Could the cops have stopped it?

Two dramatic 911 calls have the police in Pierce County Washington wondering whether they might have prevented Josh Powell from blowing up his house Sunday with his two boys inside.

There was the call from his sister Alina who was in tears after she got her brother's farewell voicemails.

"He said something about he can't live without his sons, and goodbye," said Alina.

Listen to Powell's sister's 911 call

And the call from the case worker on the scene after Powell grabbed his two boys and locked them in the house:

"Something really weird has happened. The kids went into the house, and the biological parent, his name is Josh Powell, won't let me in the door," she said.

Listen to social worker's 911 call

But even though she mentioned smelling gasoline -- she had trouble convincing the operator it was a genuine emergency:

Social worker: OK, how long will it be?

911 Operator: I don't know. They have to respond to emergency life threatening situations first.

The timeline shows that had the police been dispatched earlier, they might have arrived before the explosion.

But the operator had never heard of Josh Powell; didn't realize this was the man accused of killing his wife three years earlier, and he wasn't privy to the call from Powell's sister, and so he didn't connect the dots.

And that should not surprise us, because when it comes to fanaticism normal people will always have trouble connecting the dots! Because the dots are being left by abnormal people who, be they terrorists or Columbine copycats, or murderous parents, will always do the unthinkable.

By definition, they think of things that we never could.

I have no doubt we'll improve the 911 system -- GPS-dispatched helicopters, and Seal Team 6 on standby.

But sometimes when people call for the cops what they're really calling for... is a miracle.

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