The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) said it has recently recorded a spike in prank calls coming out of Blairmont, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).
Unknown Caller ID
According to reports from the Onverwagt Fire Station, the perpetrators are calling around a specific time during the day and giving false information regarding fires in the area.
Although it is the mandate of the Guyana Fire Service to respond to all fire reports, they warned that prank calls are dangerous because it results in the wastage of valuable time and resources.
It also hinders firefighters from effectively doing their jobs and responding to actual fires that threaten a loss of life and/or property.
“Citizens are urged to desist from making prank calls and false reports. The GFS is not taking these offences lightly and once identified, perpetrators will face the full brunt of the law,” the release read.
Just recently, local telecommunications company, GTT teamed up with the Guyana Fire Service to clamp down on prank calls to the Fire Service’s emergency lines.
GTT had said that its aim is to help the Fire Service modernise calling and reporting through the donation of four phones equipped with caller ID and recorders.
In addition to the phones, GTT also provides a monthly report of all inbound calls to the 912 line to help track prank callers.
The initiative is expected to help improve the capacity of the Fire Service to provide timely responses to fire reports.
Fire Chief (ag), Gregory Wickham had also said that the phones will allow the Service to see a reduction in the prank calls being made to the Fire Service through the caller ID capturing and conversation recording functionalities.
However, in a report from the Service on Tuesday, there was rather an increase in prank calls in Region Five.
