North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said a hoax call diverted two fire engines away from potential incidents today (Monday).
They were called by a child at 3.55pm, who said a house was on fire in York but they didn’t know the address.
Two engines were sent to the area where the call was made.
A North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: “This was found to be a malicious call as nothing was found in the area and no other calls were received from the public.
“This meant two fire engines would have not been available in York in the event of a real incident.”
On their website, they say: “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.”
All emergency calls taken by their fire control room are recorded. This includes the caller’s number and caller location based on mobile GPS.
“Any call that we find out to be a hoax call will be passed onto North Yorkshire Police.”
The fire service warns:
- If you are prosecuted, you may face a fine of up to £5,000 or six months in prison.
- Worse than any fine or sentence one of these calls could coincide with a genuine emergency and will cost someone their life.
“Hoax calls cost the fire service millions of pounds each year, but worse than that they cost people’s lives.”