No Prank Calls Please, Firemen Appeal to General Public

Firefighters take emergency calls seriously, even those that turned out to be false.

But more than being false, firemen even respond to alerts that turned out as fake, a joke, and anything done in bad taste.

Acting fast on such no-fire scenario is no laughing matter, so Information Officer F03 Raul Inocando appealed to the public not to make fun calling the fire department for an imagined incident.

“We take action on these calls, only to find out they are prank calls, and we already exerted time, effort, resources, so please avoid making these kinds of calls,” Inocando pleaded to radio listeners of dydm and dysl-Sogod during the Kapihan sa PIA live last Friday.

The fire bureau led this month’s observance of fire prevention month themmed, “Bahay at Ari-Arian ay Pahalagahan, Ibayong Pag-iingant ay sa Sariling Pamamahay Simulan.”

Newly-assigned City Fire Marshall F/Insp. Jimmy Pasague, also a guest at the radio kapihan, warned pranksters that their numbers will be noted, and once they call for a real emergency their calls will no longer be taken seriously.

This was similar to a story in Aesop’s fable on the shepherd boy who made fun of his elders by shouting “wolf, wolf” without the presence of the menacing animal, but when a true wolf was around the boy’s call fell on deaf ears, the wolf had a feast. (ajc/mmp/PIA8-Southern Leyte)