By Benjamin Paulin
The Enterprise
BROCKTON, Mass. — Alarm after alarm came in to the Brockton Fire Department early Tuesday morning, and each time firefighters showed up to the location of the call and saw no one in need of help.
Seven fire alarms were pulled in Brockton between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Tuesday, causing firefighters the leave their respective stations each time to investigate. Each time they were determined to be false alarms.
The calls came in at alarm boxes at Spring Street and Nye Avenue; Spring Street and Simmons Avenue; Green and Lexington streets; Newbury and Highland streets; twice at 215 Main St. Brockton District Court and the last one came in at Centre and Commercial streets, officials said.
Around 5 a.m., firefighters noticed a suspicious person in a white Ford SUV near one of the alarm boxes at Golden Circle, police said.
They stopped the man and brought him to the police station.
Logan Austin, 30, of Brockton was charged with interfering with firefighter operations.
He admitted to police that he pulled the alarms and he did so because he said he wanted help, police said. Austin was taken to a local hospital.
Brockton Fire Captain Edward Williams said at least one truck, with four firefighters on board, was sent to each call to investigate.
“You’ve got guys running around thinking something might be happening. It does tie up resources,” Williams said.
Last year, the call boxes, which can be found throughout the city, were used over 30 times for emergency situations, Williams said.
Austin was issued a summons to appear in court at a later date.
Copyright 2017 The Enterprise