The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has noted that their outfit continues to receive numerous prank calls from some unscrupulous members of the general public.
Public Relations Officer for the Ghana National Fire Service, A.D.O1 Alex King Nartey during an interview on JoyNews disclosed that within a month, the Service had recorded 600,000 prank calls.
Shedding light on the content of some of the prank calls, the officer noted that some individuals call asking for the fire fighters to come and douse the flames emanating from their lover’s private parts.
He noted that some children who get access to their parents’ or guardian’s mobile phone call and insult the officers.
He added that some male callers who are attended to by female workers at the GNFS tend to masturbate while on the line.
“Some people even masturbate on our call lines. That’s the truth. Some people call and when they hear the voices of female reps, then excuse me to say, you hear them jerking off. This not a story I am making. It is very uncomfortable. People call and they will be singing. Someone will call you and tell you my wife’s private part is on fire, come and quench it,” he said.
A.D.O1 Alex King Nartey bemoaned the delay in responding to life-threatening situations due to the significant number of prank calls.
“You see when you do that, you are holding the line. It’s just like a mobile phone. Until someone gets off the line, you can’t pick another call. So when there someone delaying or making prank calls, then someone will say I have called and you are not picking. Not that we are not picking but instead of being each others keeper, we look unconcerned,” he stated.
He therefore called for the end to prank calls and the attack against firefighters by civilians.
“So please the prank calls should end and also the attack on our fire officers should also end.”
This follows a disturbing incident at the O.A. Travel and Tours terminal at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle (Avenor) where unidentified individuals, incensed by the alleged delay in the Fire Service’s response to a fire emergency, resorted to pelting the fire tenders with stones.
It took the intervention of the police service to restore calm and allow the firefighters to get to work.