On April Fools’ Day, London Fire Brigade has revealed some of the stranger calls taken by their Control Officers as they urge people to only call 999 in a genuine emergency.
From spilled milk to asking for the time, the Brigade’s 999 Control Officers challenged over 1,630 calls last year, preventing resources from being mobilised unnecessarily and allowing firefighters to keep London safe by focussing on responding to genuine incidents.
These examples exclude calls from people who may be experiencing mental health difficulties. The Brigade’s Control Officers are trained to identify and support callers who may need medical help and handle these calls sensitively.
Assistant Commissioner for Operational Resilience and Control, Pat Goulbourne said: “Most calls made to our Control Room are from people with genuine concerns and we will always attend in an emergency, but we’re appealing to the few who deliberately choose to misuse 999.
“Calls made to our Control Room where there is no real emergency diverts our officers from answering genuine 999 calls and could prevent crews from getting to someone quickly who really needs our help.
“Help us to protect the capital and use our resources wisely by not making time-wasting calls to 999. Don’t be afraid to contact us if you have a real emergency but we’re just asking people to consider whether they are using 999 responsibly.”
Some of the calls challenged over the past year include:
It’s a criminal offence to misuse 999 or make hoax calls and the Brigade’s Control Officers are trained to identify calls that may not be genuine and will challenge these to ensure that fire engines aren’t mobilised unnecessarily.