Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Gwavas Estate, Newlyn at 16/05/2009 23:59

Firefighters from Penzance and St Just were mobilised to a report of a house on fire. The crews conducted a thorough search of the estate and could find no fire. The call had been made maliciously.

This reckless act of wasting the time of the emergency services has put peoples lives at risk. Whilst firefighters and police were dealing with this incident, they were not available to respond to a genuine call for help. Resources may have had to travel greater distances to get to a genuine call; endangering life by increasing the time of their arrival.

Less than two years ago, the emergency services dealt with a serious fire on this estate, where a family were trapped in their flat. As the crews sped to this hoax call, they would have been prepared to deal with a similar scenario.

Making hoax 999 calls to the fire brigade is a criminal offence. Those convicted of making such calls have received fines running into hundreds of pounds or, in some cases, have resulted in a custodial sentence being given.

In addition, it is also a breach of the contract between the subscriber and the telephone service provider. The call, on this occasion, was made using a mobile telephone. Due to this breach of contract, the mobile telephone number has been blocked by the telephone company and rendered useless.