False alarm calls to the Marion fire department have increased during the past two years and Chief James C. Dungey is determined to put a stop to them. Dungey admits, however, that a few false alarms are inevitable. But false alarms turned in by pranksters will be severely dealt with when they are caught, he says. An example of pranksterism is the call last week that sent the local department to Creal Springs. When firemen arrived they went to the Creal Springs fire department but found no fire, nor a report of one. After firemen were back at the home station they speculated that the call had come from a Marion Public Square telephone booth where loiterers commonly maintain a base. Illinois Criminal Code provides a penalty of not more than $500 and up to six months in a penal institution for turning in a false fire alarm. “He won’t get off easy when I catch him,” Chief Dungey said of anyone caught turning in a false alarm. “It’s bad business. It’s a joke to them but is a serious business to me.” “The worst thing about it is that while we’re going on a wild goose chase a real fire might break out with no one available to fight it.” Fireman Robert Yost said, “The prankster would really be in for it if there was any injury during one of these trips.” Dungey said, “When the bell rings we go. We don’t have time to argue with them on the telephone to find out whether or not it’s a fire or a prank.” “Ninety-nine out of a hundred times it is a fire when a call is made but whether it is or not we have to go,” he said. “I’d rather we would make 10 dry runs than miss one fire. But every time that truck goes out it costs the taxpayer money,” said Dungey. Dungey valued the truck and equipment at about $9,500. In addition to the cost of the truck involved is the salaries of the driver and at least one man. He admitted however, that pranksters are not the only cause of false alarms. Dial telephone is a problem which didn’t exist until the past two years. Until then telephone operators called the department. Now the department is reached by direct dialing. Wrong numbers, as well as the fact that practical jokers are more likely to dial a false alarm than report it to an operator. Yost told of an incident where firemen went on a false alarm run and “about scared a man to death when we jumped on the front porch expecting a fire. Naturally the man didn’t know what was happening.” Dungey says there are several ways to check on the false alarm calls. “Let them have their fun now but we’ll catch one, one of these days.”

(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us )