Quote Originally Posted by slick

In my dream I said to myself "What would Phred do???
He said to call 911 first then tackle the fire..."

I was dialing 911 when I woke up.

Hope you got hung up before you finished the 9-1-1 ...

MANY places when you dial 9-1-1 you'd better have a crisis to expound upon ...
Telling the Call-Taker "The fire in my dream went out when I grabbed my extinguisher" ...
would be Guaranteed to be answered by the nearest Patrol Cop!

Around here, there's about 4 ways they respond to ALL 9-1-1 calls ...
* Send a Cop
* Send the Fire Guys
* Send a Medic
* Send a Cop - with a bad attitude and a Lecture on when NOT to dial 9-1-1!

You dial 9-1-1 and you're gonna SEE somebody ... there's NO Way to talk that
Call-Taker out of sending SOMEone to your house!
And the more far-out your lame excuse for dialing 9-1-1 is - the quicker they're
going to get there!

And then there are the "timid" callers ...
Example:

9-1-1 Dispatcher: 9-1-1; do you have a Police, Fire, or Medical EMERGENCY?
Caller: Hi, sorry to bother you.
Dispatcher: No bother - WHAT's your EMERGENCY, m'am?
Caller: Oh, I don't think it's an emergency ... is the Fire Dept "busy"?
Disp: We always have crews available - WHAT is your PROBLEM?
Caller: I hate to bother them ... but could they maybe stop by sometime and take a look?
Disp: (becoming just a bit *tense*) M'am, this is an EMERGENCY line - do you have an Emergency?
Caller: Well, I don't think so - but I'm not sure ... that's why I asked if the Firefighters
. . were busy ... I'd hate to bother them if they're busy ...
Disp: (now past her breaking point) M'am! TELL me WHAT's WRONG!!!
Caller: Well, I don't know if anything is "wrong" - that's whay I'd like to know if one of the Firefighters
could stop by and check to see if I do have a problem ... if they're not too busy ...

The actual call went on for anothe two or three cat 'n mouse exchanges between the
caller and the totally frustrated 9-1-1 Call Taker ...
who had "transferred" the live call to our Fire Dispatcher.

Between the two dispatchers, after they re-phrased "What's Wrong?" and "What do you
want them to *check*?" another two or three ways, this is what finally was offered ...

Caller: Well, when I opened my basement door to go down and start my laundry,
I saw something I've never seen in my basement ...
Disp: WHAT DID YOU SEE, m'am?
Caller: Well, I saw the Smoke! - Or, I think it might BE smoke ... it Smells like smoke! It's black ...

Our Fire Dispatcher was a bit shocked ... "Son of a BIT**!"
- - - - ... Berlin Fire to your Station;
STRUCTURE FIRE; -bEEp> - - - ... Elsworth Fire mutual aid Berlin, Structure Fire ... no address available yet!

Caller: I just don't know what to do ... would they mind stopping by?

Fire Disp: They won't "mind" a bit m'am ... matter of fact, thery're ON Their WAY ...
now could you please tell me your ADDRESS?

She was STILL yammering with our Dispatcher when the first Engine pulled up!

We "checked it out" with 4 Engines, 2 Tankers, a Rescue, and a Medic Unit!
It wasn't a bad fire; but her oil furnace had malfunctioned and failed to light;
then pumped oil into the fire box and out into the furnace shell;
then did ignite ... bonfire in the furnace where it wasn't "supposed" to be burning!

She was STILL worried that she'd "bothered" us while I was writing the report.