Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Falmouth Area at 07/08/2008 22:01

At 2201 hours this evening a call was received at Fire Control stating that there was a house fire with persons inside the property at an address in Falmouth, on arrival at the address, the incident was found to be a hoax call. This incident involved two appliances from Falmouth also colleagues in the Police and Ambulance Service attending. Whilst attending this incident the resources were not available for any real life threatening incidents in the area. Devon & Cornwall Police are making further enquires with a view of prosecution of the offender.

Hoax Calls
Hoax calls endanger the lives of others - if a fire crew is attending a hoax call they are not available to attend a real emergency.

If the Fire Brigade Control Operator suspects the call is suspicious, the caller will be 'challenged' by asking: -"This call is being recorded, if it is a false alarm we will inform the Police, do you wish to continue?" The telephone number the call is made from is instantly known by the operator and all calls to the Fire Brigade Control Room are recorded.

It is illegal to make a hoax emergency call; if you are prosecuted you may face a fine of up to £5,000 or six months in prison.