Off-duty dispatcher receives prank call

Donley County Sheriff Jimmy Thompson has issued a stern warning following a crank call to the home of a local dispatcher.

Dispatcher Cheryl Phillips received the phone call last Thursday, August 24, shortly before 11 p.m. from a woman who claimed her house was on fire and her child was burning.

“The woman was hysterical,” Phillips said. “She was screaming that the house was on fire that he was on fire. She kept saying, ‘He set him and the house on fire!’”

Phillips said she told the woman to call 911, but the woman said she had to get the child out of the fire.

The off duty dispatcher tried to get as much information as possible from the woman, then called the sheriff’s office.

“Several things didn’t add up, but you just never know,” she said.

Two deputies, one ambulance crew, and three units from the Clarendon Fire Department were dispatched to try and find the reported house fire. A unit from the Howardwick Fire Department and several volunteer paramedics also assisted in the search.

No fire was found, and the call was determined to be a hoax.

Sheriff Thompson said if caught the perpetrator will be responsible for all expenses of the county’s emergency personnel during the search. If that amount is more than $1,500, it will be a state jail offense.

A crank call also was received at the KEFH-FM radio station Thursday night, but it’s not known for sure whether the two are related.