Almost half of the 3,900 Onslow County fires reported in 2015 ended up not being fires at all.
That’s according to Onslow County Fire Marshal Brian Kelly, who said when a call comes in with little information, the full force of fire departments are dispatched just in case.
For example, Kelly said on Monday a call came in from someone who smelled gas near the U.S. 258 and N.C. 53 intersection in Jacksonville. There are multiple buildings around the location and without a specific destination or more information, emergency services responded as a worst-case scenario.
Nothing was found.
Other times, Kelly said someone may drive by a home and see smoke, so they call 911 to report it.
Dispatchers gather as much information as possible but Kelly said many times drivers don’t stop to investigate. Without knowing if the house is on fire or if there are people injured, firefighters respond prepared for anything.
“What a unit is dispatched to is not always what they find,” Kelly said, adding that the number of fires reported is higher than the actual number of fires.
Kelly said those units dispatched to a report of smoke at a home