False alarms frustrating St James firefighters

WESTERN BUREAU:

Acting Superintendent of the St James Division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), Keneisha Vaccianna, is calling on residents to stop making prank calls to emergency services, describing the act as a dangerous and costly distraction.

“For the month of April, we received five malicious false calls,” Vaccianna told The Gleaner on Monday.

He further noted that his office has responded to at least 25 prank calls since the start of the year. This figure includes 10 in February and nine in January – an alarming trend that he says is putting undue strain on the division’s resources and personnel as they are obligated to respond to every call.

Prank calls, he emphasised, not only disadvantage firefighters, but also residents in genuine difficulty.

“One false call in itself is too much. Each time we receive a call, we have an obligation to respond; it’s our duty to respond. However, when that call is with malicious intent, it deprives someone who might have a genuine emergency for the use of the resource which is responding to a false call, which might be miles away,” Vaccianna told The Gleaner.

“Not only would it deprive someone who has a genuine emergency, it creates unnecessary wear and tear on the unit, which comes at a price tag to service and repair a fire unit. And, each run, there is consumption of fuel,” he added.

At the same time, the acting superintendent stated that firefighters are also at a higher risk of being engaged in a motor vehicle collision.

“Whether it’s responding to a call or returning from a call, once you’re mobile on the road, there’s a risk of a potential motor vehicle accident. So, with those false calls, they put the firefighters at unnecessary risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. Even with the best of defensive driving, there is always the risk of an accident,” he stated.

With only three fire trucks in St James, the acting superintendent stressed that firefighters take their duties seriously and are becoming frustrated with the impact of false alarms.

“They see themselves as professionals and to respond to a call with the mindset that someone is genuinely in distress, only to turn up and realise it’s a prank call. It affects the mood of some individuals,” said Vaccianna. “They think that members of the public take the whole emergency response for a joke, which to us is serious business.”

HALT SELFISH ACT

JFB Commissioner Stewart Beckford previously disclosed that there were 1,759 malicious false alarms last year, a 24.4 per cent rise from the 1,413 calls received in 2023.

Meanwhile, Vaccianna is urging locals to put themselves in the shoes of those who actually require emergency services. He believes that this selfish act should be halted.

“[I] just want for each individual to put themselves in the position of someone who is in an emergency situation and request assistance from the fire department,” he said. “The situation which exists at the moment is that the necessary resource is 30 kilometres away responding to a prank call, whilst you’re there in a genuine distress, requiring the resource. Just put yourself in that situation and you’ll realise how important it is to desist from making those prank calls.”

rochelle.clayton@gleanerjm.com