Chris Durant
The Times-Standard
EUREKA, Calif. — An investigation is continuing into a series of crank 911 calls that sent fire crews to false alarms last week.
Eureka Firefighters scrambled Friday to a structure fire call around 5 p.m. and as they arrived, finding nothing, they received a call of another fire just blocks away. But there was one problem: There were no fires.
Both calls were made from the same cell phone, which was used to call in another false fire call earlier in the day.
“It takes us away from other calls,” said Assistant Eureka Fire Chief Bill Gillespie. “Firefighters respond from all over the city.”
The first call came early in the afternoon, with firefighters unable to find any emergency at the address.
But as they were investigating buildings in the vicinity of the second call, the third call came in directing them to an address just a couple blocks away.
Within minutes, it was determined the two calls right after each other came from the same phone number.
“It was a call from the 415 area code,” said Eureka Police Department’s Support Services Manager Dee Dee Wilson.
The problem in tracking down the culprit is that the phone is not activated.
“Cell phones that aren’t activated can still call 911,” Wilson said.
The problem hinders public safety agencies around the county.
“It’s not something that occurs on a regular basis,” said Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department Communications supervisor Cheri Williams.
Wilson said depending on the severity, someone caught making false reports of emergencies can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony.
If convicted they can go to prison on the felony charge or spend a year in jail on the misdemeanor charge.
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