r/Firefighting • u/Kevsterific • May 05 '25
Ask A Firefighter Did I waste the fire department’s time?
I was out for a trail run and got to a clearing at the top of a big hill that I could look out and see off in the distance.
I saw a big flame about 1km away (as the crow flies)
I called the fire department to report and stressed that while it looked like a big flame I didn’t know exactly where (I was able to give a street name by looking at google maps). In hindsight I didn’t see any smoke accompanying it and I didn’t think to mention it.
The dispatcher said there’s something called a burn off (I think that’s the phrase he used) in the area, but I told him I didn’t know what that was or looked like.
He said they’d send someone over to check it out but I’m just worried either it wasn’t actually a fire a was seeing or it was the burn off the dispatcher mentioned and I just wasted their time on a false alarm
I took this picture after I hung up, I wish I had a way of showing them what I saw so they could better determine what I was calling about
1
u/setmedic1 May 05 '25
From refineries but more common is the water waste facilities. Was a flamer, better safe than sorry, they also.have the add in their CAD what type if biz this is, notations from Comm SuperV in system.GIS Mapping resulting in burn off identifier highlighted.
NO you did not- think about LA Wildland fires started