Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Bodmin at 19/07/2009 01:00

At 0100hrs this morning a female caller dialled 999 and requested the fire brigade to attend an address in Bodmin, where she said there was a house on fire. She also said that her friend was at the house with his mother.

Two fire appliances from Bodmin were mobilised.

The fire crews attended the address but there was no sign of any fire; they confirmed that the call had been a hoax.

Whilst the firefighters were attending this malicious call, they were not available to attend other incidents. If a genuine call for help for the fire brigade was received in the Bodmin area at this time, then firefighters would have attended from further away. The extra time it would have taken them to arrive, may have been the difference between life or death.

Making hoax calls to the fire brigade is a criminal offence. Cases brought before the courts for this offence have resulted in fines being handed out totalling hundreds of pounds or, in extreme cases, custodial sentences have been issued.

In this case, the call was made from a public payphone on Higher Bore Street in Bodmin. If anyone saw a female, possibly with a male, using this payphone at 1am Sunday morning, 19 July 2009, they are asked to contact Devon & Cornwall Police on 08452 777444. The police log number is 131.

Hoax callers put lives at risk - don't let it be yours.