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Hoax call may lead to a death

Emilene White
14/ 3/2007

ON AN average day a 999 operator at Greater Manchester's fire service call centre may take a call from someone trapped in a burning building.

The caller could be minutes away from death and the operator must give them advice about first aid if necessary and how to keep themselves alive until firefighters arrive.

So when their next call is from a faker maliciously calling for kicks, it's pretty frustrating.

"I really don't believe they would genuinely want to kill or severely maim somebody," says operations manager Liz Drummond of hoax callers.

"But that could be the consequence of their actions. If you think, we had 145 hoax calls from Tameside last year - usually two engines go out on a call so that's 290 fire engines that weren't available to people in a genuine emergency.

"What I would say is stop and think before you make a malicious call. If you continue you could put the lives of your loved ones at risk - that could be your mum, dad, brother, sister or friend."

The centre in Swinton is the second busiest in the country and the 10 operators have plenty of training in how to spot non-genuine callers.

"You spot them through the questions you ask," says Liz, who has worked for the service for 32 years. "They trap themselves by their response. If we suspect them then we say, 'You do realise this call is being traced?' and that if it turns out to be malicious they will be prosecuted.

"We give them the opportunity to admit it. What is amazing is that it's not just kids, it's adults as well."

Last year hoax calls cost the fire service around £260,000. That's enough to pay for a brand new fire engine.

Click below to hear recent hoax calls. If you have any information relating to these calls telephone Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Related Audio Clips

• Hoax call 1
• Hoax call 2
• Hoax call 3
• Hoax fire call 1
• Hoax fire call 2
• Denton hoax caller
• Audenshaw hoax caller
• Hoax call made in Cockbrook, Stalybridge at 6.50pm on Wed 7 March