Gaston Rural Fire District

There are a number of slash burns in the Mount Richmond area right now. From a distance these fires can appear to be a house fire.

Wednesday morning we got a call of a house in the area. Six fire trucks from three local agencies responded, only to find the call came from someone driving by who mistook a slash burn for a house fire.

The caller meant well and of course we want you to call 911 in an emergency. But we offer a friendly reminder: If you see what you think is a house fire (or any other emergency), please investigate as much as you can without putting yourself in danger.

Any time emergency vehicles respond to a call there's the potential for accidents. Something could happen to the fire truck, or other drivers might crash because they are distracted by the lights and sirens.

So if you think you see an emergency, please do a little investigation if you can before calling 911. If you see a car in a ditch, check to see if there's anyone with the car; sometimes the car is just left there from an accident hours before. If you see a fire, do a double-take before calling. It could be a farmer or logging company burning debris.

If after investigating you still can't tell if it's a real emergency, call 911, but explain the situation as carefully and calmly as possible. When there's uncertainty, dispatchers and emergency responders may choose to investigate the incident before sending unnecessary vehicles into traffic with lights and sirens blaring.