By Erin Rhoda
The Morning Sentinel
STARKS, Maine — An 8-year-old boy called 911 on Saturday to say his house was burning down with his parents trapped inside it.
But it wasn’t true.
Firefighters from three towns responded to the house on Anson Road only to learn the boy’s report was a hoax.
“There were a lot of upset people,” Madison Fire Chief Roger Lightbody said Monday.
The incident was turned over to Maine State Police and the boy was summonsed on a charge of making a false public alarm, according to Lt. Donald Pomelow, commanding officer of the Troop C barracks in Skowhegan.
After the boy called 911 at 4:03 p.m. Saturday, firefighters and ambulance crews from Starks, Anson and Madison responded. Because of a mutual aid agreement, rescue workers from all the towns respond when a structure fire is reported in any of the communities.
The severity of the report — that people were trapped inside the burning home — spurred rescue workers to respond quickly, Starks Fire Chief Julie Costigan said Monday.
“The response was unbelievable from surrounding towns. I think we had a response time of 12 minutes, and we had multiple units on scene,” she said.
But, when they arrived, there were no flames shooting out of the house. And no one was trapped inside.
Costigan was confused at first, but after she doublechecked the address she realized the call was a prank. Although he lived at the residence, the boy had dialed 911 from another location, and the only people home were two children and a babysitter, according to Costigan.
Costigan said she’s never been called out to such a hoax.
“It is taxpayer dollar(s). It’s not a funny situation at all,” Lightbody said.
After a juvenile is summonsed, a hearing is often held with juvenile probation and parole, according to Pomelow. The juvenile could be ordered to attend counseling, pay restitution or another form of discipline, depending on the circumstances.
Investigating officer State Trooper Peter Michaud cleared the scene Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Costigan ordered rescue crews to turn back shortly after learning of the false alarm.
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