The 999 calls tying up Cornwall’s police control room

Light so much as a smoky bonfire in the garden this weekend and there’s a decent chance somebody two doors down already has a phone in their hand. That’s the position Devon and Cornwall Police says its control room is in right now, and it’s asking people to think twice before they dial 999 over it.

A national alert lands over the region

This weekend the Government sent out a national alert advising people not to light anything that could cause a fire. The warning is down to the risk of fire spreading in the dry, hot conditions the region has been experiencing, conditions that have turned parks, moorland and back gardens alike into tinder.

Why a BBQ call might be the wrong call

Since the alert went out, the force’s control room has seen a rise in the number of calls it’s fielding, many of them reporting things as ordinary as a garden BBQ. On its own that sounds harmless enough. Multiplied across a bank holiday weekend of dry weather, though, it becomes a real problem.

The extra calls are landing on top of a police control room that was already busier than usual before the alert went out. More calls mean more time spent working out which ones are genuine emergencies, and that risks a delay in staff answering the calls that really are.

What actually needs a 999 call

The rule the force wants people to hold onto is a simple one. Only call 999 if there’s an emergency happening right now. A neighbour’s BBQ, on its own, isn’t that.

If you think a fire was started deliberately

Suspect someone has started a fire on purpose rather than by accident? That’s a different situation, and there’s a dedicated route for it. Firestoppers can be reached on 0800 169 5558, and the report stays anonymous.

Everything else

For anything that isn’t an emergency in progress, the force is pointing people towards 101 or its online reporting service instead, freeing up the 999 line for the calls that genuinely can’t wait.

No end date has been put on the alert itself. It runs for as long as the dry spell does, and for now, so does the queue of calls behind it.

📷Credit: Devon & Cornwall Police