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
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u/Jokerzrival May 05 '25
Yup. OP was not the first to call and certainly, definitely will not be the last. There's a good chance they had a cop drive past, maybe put in a phone call to the company to double check everything was running as usual just to do due diligence but ultimately even if a firetruck was dispatched. They probably rolled up, rolled done a window, shouted at the same dude outside smoking that was out there the last 5 times they got called, got told all was good and went back to the station.
I will add OP don't let this discourage you from calling 911 in times you think there may be an emergency. You may be right and you may be the only one that calls. It's better to call and be wrong than to not call and be wrong. Just if possible stay in the line and get information you can that's always helpful.