Portsmouth firefighters blast sick pranksters who 'risked lives' sending them on hoax call

Frustrated crews from Southsea fire station were diverted away from an emergency in Portsmouth last night to deal with a hoax job at the same time.

The situation outraged firefighters on the overnight team, who have slammed sick pranksters for wasting their time.

In a tweet, the fire station said: ‘Tonight, we are left angry. We were called to a hoax call on one side of Portsmouth, when a domestic fire was called in shortly after on the other.

‘Thankfully the hoax was dealt with swiftly and the appliances were able to mobilise quickly to the fire.’

Mark Chapman, head of Hampshire Fire Brigades Union – which represents hundreds of firefighters across the country – also lashed out at the prank.

He said: ‘Saying hoax calls are a waste of firefighters’ time oversimplifies the severity of consequence.

‘Hoax calls cost valuable minutes; valuable minutes can cost lives; those lives are someone’s family; that family could be yours.’

Hampshire police can deal with thousands of nuisance and inappropriate calls each year.

Laura Parsonage, operations manager at the force’s 999 call centre, said: ‘We take nuisance 999 calls extremely seriously, as they take up valuable time that could be better spent talking to people in genuine need.

‘Our contact management staff do a hugely important and demanding job, speaking to people who are often in very difficult, upsetting or dangerous situations.

‘When their time is wasted, it is most frustrating. They come to work to help the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

‘I want to remind people just how vital it is not to make inappropriate emergency calls. You could be stopping someone who has a real emergency from getting through to our call handlers.’

Misuse of 999 and hoax calls are a criminal offence. Those charged could face a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison or a fine of £5,000.

Control Station Manager Jill Horn said: ‘Hoax calls cost lives – it’s that simple.

‘People calling in with false reports need to consider how they would feel if someone delayed firefighters getting to them or their loved ones.

‘If putting lives at risk and wasting taxpayers money is not enough motivation to stop offenders maybe the prospect of going to prison and having their phone cut off will be.’