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Fire Brigade engulfed with crank calls

By Hemamala Wickramage

Firemen at the control room of the Fire Brigade Headquarters are distressed over "fake distress calls" from people using free-of-charge phone lines provided by private mobile phone companies. "We receive many fake calls per day on our emergency lines from these three digit numbers  provided by private mobile phone connection providers," Fire Brigade Control Room Officer, Duminda Rathna told The Sunday Leader. The problem according to them  is an ongoing one with numerous complaints being made by the Fire Brigade to these companies.

According to Fire Brigade sources while some companies have responded positively, others have turned deaf  ears.

Meanwhile, Chief Officer, Fire Brigade, J. Kannangara told The Sunday Leader that steps are underway to introduce a by-law in order that purposeful involvement in false alarms  will be made an offence.

Fire Brigade's 'crank call woes' started when private mobile phone companies introduced free-of-charge, three digit numbers to its customers to access the Fire Brigade in emergencies.

" This is what people do when they are bored or have run out of money on their pre-paid cards  -  ring the Fire Brigade number as it costs them nothing. What they don't realise is that by doing so they are blocking the genuine callers' access," said Duminda.

Time factor is very crucial in the operations of the Fire Brigade said the firemen on duty. "It might be a matter of minutes that decide the number of lives being saved and the minimising of property damage. This is almost like cutting off a life line for the people needing assistance," said another firemen.

They also complain of telephone operators on duty - especially at night time - being abused by such callers. "There are several groups of people who call us from a pub somewhere in Colombo on Saturday nights. Their voices tell us they are drunk. They just block the emergency line and use obscene language on us," said firemen.

According to them, companies such as Dialog and Mobitel once informed by the Fire Brigade of nuisance calls have taken action to stop the continuity of their customers' misdemeanors. "When we get a crank call, it blocks the line and takes about 30 seconds for that call to get cut off. This could be the most crucial minutes that a genuine caller might miss out on and imagine their agony when failing to get through," said Duminda.

According to Fire Brigade sources, calls from Celltel customers continue  unabated and they believe their numerous complaints to the company have fallen on deaf ears.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader, CEO, Celltel, Duminda Rathnayake said the company has only received one complaint from the Fire Brigade with regards to crank calls. "That too was an year ago. We haven't got any such complaints after that," said Rathnayake.

As a telecommunications operator, Rathnayake says the company is unable to block the lines of its customers even if complaints of this nature  are  received. "All we can do is issue a warning once. If the problem persists the party which is receiving nuisance calls will have to take the matter to the police and go through the procedure of an inquiry," said Rathnayake.

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