Hoax Calls Disrupt Firemen's Duties, Jeopardise Real Emergencies

The fire station bell rings loudly, piercing the silence of the night. The crew immediately jumps into action.

Siren wailing and blue and red lights flashing, the red fire engine speeds out of the station. But upon arrival at the given address, everything is silent. No flames, no smoke.

It is a hoax call. To the caller, it may be just a prank but to the firemen, every false alarm is a gamble with someone else’s life as response teams may not be available should a real crisis arise.

HOTLINE

While hoax calls are quite common, not many know that some people use the emergency hotline for another purpose – to pour out their feelings.

“They don’t call us to report a fire or accident. They just need someone to talk to,” Kelantan Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director Farhan Sufyan Borhan told Bernama, adding that these callers are usually heartbroken or plain lonely.

Farhan Sufyan Borhan

“Sometimes, all we can hear at the other end of the line is laboured breathing or a trembling voice trying to hold back tears. Some callers don’t speak a word… (maybe) they just want to feel there’s someone there for them, even if it is only for a few minutes.

“To them, it might not feel wrong (to call the emergency number). But to us, it’s still a false call because the station has to prepare regardless, and the fire engine remains on standby for dispatch.”

Behind every emergency call, there is a price to be paid – in terms of the time wasted in attending to such calls, in the operational and fuel expenses of unnecessary fire truck deployments, and the physical and mental toll it takes on firefighters.

In fact, before the Malaysian Emergency Response System (MERS) 999 was introduced in 2007, all emergency calls went directly to the fire station and JBPM had to bear the cost of the phone bills.

“The fire department had to cover the bills, even if the call was just a prank,” Farhan Sufyan said.

STATISTICS

JBPM Kelantan received 2,053 emergency calls this year as of July 7, out of which eight were hoax calls.

In 2024, it recorded 6,099 calls (including seven false alarms); in 2023, there were 4,480 calls (seven false alarms); and in 2022, there were 4,213 calls (with two false alarms).

As of July 7, Kelantan JBPM received 2,053 calls involving 796 fires; 1,173 rescues; 76 special tasks and eight false calls.

At a glance, the number of false alarms may seem small but even a single hoax can drain the firemen’s time and energy and disrupt their focus, potentially putting real emergencies at greater risk.

Farhan Sufyan said the introduction of MERS 999, operated by Telekom Malaysia Bhd, brought some relief but it has not completely eliminated hoax calls.

Under MERS 999, every emergency call is screened beforehand. The caller’s name, location and other details are recorded, and the nearest fire station receives a call sheet simultaneously, even while the caller is still speaking to the operator.

“This system really helps. But we would still require more information… such as (in the case of fire reports) what type of fire and if there are victims, so that the commander can plan the best strategy,” said Farhan Sufyan.

He said there are three main call centres – located in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur; Melaka; and Kuching, Sarawak – handling emergency calls and operating simultaneously. If one centre is busy, the call is automatically routed to another.

“Some people think if a call from Sabah is transferred to Sarawak, it will cause delays. That’s not true. Our system is designed to ensure response time remains fast,” he said.

However, even the best technology depends on one fundamental thing: accurate and complete information from the caller.

“Technology won’t be of much help if the location given to us is not correct (or incomplete)… this is why we need accurate information,” he added.

INCOMPLETE ADDRESS

Farhan Sufyan then recalled an incident that still haunts him and which occurred when he was attached to JBPM Sabah. He said a caller, sounding breathless and frantic, phoned to report a fire. But the address given was incomplete, so the operations commander tried to ask more questions, such as the names of nearby landmarks or streets. 

However, in those crucial moments, the fire became bigger. Tragically, three people perished in that fire, not because the windows of the building they were trapped in were barred, but because it took too long for the firefighters to get to the correct location.

For emergencies involving JBPM, the nearest fire station will receive the "call sheet" in real time, that is, while the caller is still on the line talking to the operator.

“Moments like that are what determine whether a life is saved or lost,” Farhan Sufyan said.

That incident was a costly lesson: technology can speed things up, but lives still hinge on the information provided by the caller.

“In an emergency, that information is the very first lifeline,” he added.

He also said JBPM Kelantan makes a police report each time a prank call is received. 

“This is not about seeking revenge but to prevent the same thing from happening again,” he said, adding that in Sabah, the fire department has successfully traced and prosecuted several hoax callers. 

Members of the public who make false emergency calls can be charged under Section 233 (2) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and upon conviction, they face a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both.

Urging the public to use the MERS 999 line only for genuine emergencies, Farhan Sufyan said: “Don’t treat it like a joke. Because for the firemen getting on that truck, they don’t know if the call is real or fake. But they’ll go anyway because in that moment, they know someone’s life might depend on it.