A deafening noise begins to sound in the Mobile Park. A siren alerts of the next service. The tense calm that is breathed in the facilities is diluted, then begins, a frenetic activity, where a few seconds can win a life.
Although it is still early to know the details of the alert, the entire emergency team is prepared to face each incident. Those in charge of attending to the service collect the latest tools they need and get into the vehicle, practically on the move. While they make the journey, a delirious activity flows in the Park. You have to be alert because you never know if your colleagues are going to need another support unit.
The fire truck appears at the end of the street, slowly approaching the indicated address. Upon reaching the exact point, the troops get out of the car quickly, since time is the most precious asset they have to carry out their activity. The tension is relieved in a single moment, a container is burning, there is no danger. Situation controlled.
This story is constantly repeated in the Lanzarote Mobile Park, since of the almost 500 fire alerts that were registered last year on the Island, more than half end up being matters of little importance, such as a container or garbage on fire. 310 incidents of this type occurred the previous year, which means that, on average, the emergency center receives 1.5 alerts of this type every day.
Until last April, this figure increases even more, since firefighters carried out an average of 2 services per day for fires in containers or garbage. Specifically, 77 are the events of this type registered until last month, of the 158 fires that occurred.
1,092 incidents were received by these emergency agents the previous year, although fires, with 45%, are the events that have occurred the most in Lanzarote. Most of these have taken place in Arrecife, since it is the population that concentrates the most incidents, with 66%, followed by Teguise, San Bartolomé and Tías.
Interventions in traffic accidents are the second type of alert that is most received in the Mobile Park. These amounted to 141 last year, which represents 13% of the total activities. Next, are the unclassified incidents, the work in floods and the rescue actions.
False alarms
The security and emergency bodies consider that an alert becomes a false alarm when, upon receiving a call and starting the service, then it is canceled, either because other troops have acted or the affected people themselves have solved it, or also when arriving at the scene there is no such incident.
A case of this type happened, a few weeks ago, in Arrecife, when the 1-1-2 emergency service received a bomb warning in the Old Cabildo. After evacuating the building and cleaning the area in search of the explosive device, the police officers filed the event as a false alarm.
Another similar event took place last January, when a call to the emergency services, warned of the placement of an explosive in the Colegio de Zonzamas. The police officers then carried out a search, looking in the place for possible suspicious objects and likely to contain some device. Afterwards it was found out that the author of the call was a minor of thirteen years who, after being expelled from the class, and with vengeful spirits, made the alert.
Luis Perdomo, head of the Fire Department of the Mobile Park, told La Voz that the false incident he remembers most was one in which they called warning of a serious accident at the Yaiza roundabout. "I remember very well because the Police, the Civil Guard, Ambulances and the Park were mobilized. This false alert was, from my point of view, planned by the author of the same, since he called all the emergency and security bodies".
"When an alert arrives, it is unknown whether it will be false or not, so the same protocol must be followed for all", says Miguel Ortiz, Head of Area of the 112 service in Las Palmas. Perdomo, for his part, believes that it is very difficult to know when an alarm is going to be false. "Until you get to the service you don't get an idea of what it is, since, on occasions, we have had calls, alerting that a vehicle has left the road, which is supposed to be not too important, and upon arrival it turns out to be a traffic accident with trapped and fire", commented the Head of Firefighters of the Mobile Park.
Ortiz, also explained to La Voz that when a false alert occurs, it is a detriment to the entire society, since, if during the time you are performing the false service a real incident occurs, a problem of resource optimization appears. "You have to think that you have to move another unit to another more distant place, so we lose in terms of time and quality of response", explained Ortiz.
This loss in effectiveness is not so pressing in large population centers, such as Arrecife, "since in large cities they do not have that problem because they have more resources than in a municipality, such as Haría", commented the head of Area of 112 of Las Palmas.
Making these alerts that later turn out to be false is not penalized by Law, although those that do receive a sanction are those that warn of the existence of a terrorist attack. "This type of alarms are usually made through a telephone booth, so it is practically impossible to know who made them", said Ortiz.
When false alarms are made through a landline phone, it is very easy to know from which terminal the alert was made, and, therefore, also who is the person who made it. This does not happen when the call is made through a mobile number, although if it is a fixed contract it is easier to locate it. The case of calls from a pre-contract mobile is different because the owner of the receiver is not known. Although some telephone companies are beginning to supply a specific number, called mail number, which all mobiles have, through which it is possible to locate the terminal through which the call was made.
From the 112 service, Ortiz told La Voz that all alerts that are made to this number are recorded, whether they occur by radio or by telephone. When it is confirmed that several cases of false alarms come from the same telephone, what is done is to file a complaint in the Court. "Then if the judge needs it, he can listen to the recordings", said the head of area of 112 in Las Palmas. "If it is discovered who is the person who is making the alert calls that then do not occur, what is imposed on him is a simple economic sanction, since this type of act is considered a fault".
This false call is considered a crime when it is a false warning of a terrorist attack, which will be, then, the Judge, on this occasion, who must decide the penalty. "In the Canary Islands all warnings of terrorist attacks turn out to be, to date, false, although you have to treat it as if it were a real alert", said Miguel Ortiz, Head of Area of the 112 service in Las Palmas. Ortiz also stated that this type of false warnings are usually made through a telephone booth, so it is very difficult to know the person who made it. "For example, the person who alerted a few weeks ago, warning of a bomb warning in the Old Cabildo has not yet been recognized", commented Ortiz.
False alarms in figures
On the Island there were last year 50 cases of false alarms, which represents 4% of the mobilizations carried out by the emergency troops throughout the year. Although the figure may not seem significant, Perdomo, head of the Fire Department of the Mobile Park, recalls that this type of acts are carried out to the detriment of everyone, "since we only have one unit for the exits and if they call us for an alarm that turns out to be a lie and then a real one occurs, this unit has to mobilize to the other service, so it takes much longer to arrive".
The number of incidents that did not occur increased in 2005 in relation to the previous year, since in 2004 the false alarms received in the Mobile Park amounted to 39, although that same year they also meant 4% of the activity of the firefighters of Arrecife. For its part, 2006 is being a year with low activity in what refers to these false warnings, since from the beginning of the year until last month only eight calls have been registered that have ended without performing the service.
A significant fact that should be highlighted is that in the previous year there were eleven false alarms in August, when the rest of the months this figure remained more or less constant, around four false warnings per month. This record represents an increase in the activity of the emergency troops in terms of these services that are not carried out, since in that month the percentage amounted to 16%. This data is also in third place in the incidents of that period of the Mobile Park, preceded by actions in traffic accidents and fires.
The month where fewer cases of false alarms occurred in 2005 occurred in May, since there was only one case of warning that did not involve the performance of a service. This incident accounted for 1% of the activity of the Mobile Park in that month.
The sound of the telephone will continue to probe in the switchboards of the emergency services of the Island. The troops of these bodies will continue, also, attending to all these calls, although some of them are issues of little importance, such as a container on fire. Others, however, do not require the provision of the service, although when they occur they are detrimental to society, especially in Lanzarote where material resources are scarce within the security forces.
From the 112 service, Ortiz told La Voz that all alerts that are made to this number are recorded, whether they occur by radio or by telephone. When it is confirmed that several cases of false alarms come from the same telephone, what is done is to file a complaint in the Court. "Then if the judge needs it, he can listen to the recordings", said the head of area of 112 in Las Palmas. "If it is discovered who is the person who is making the alert calls that then do not occur, what is imposed on him is a simple economic sanction, since this type of act is considered a fault".
This false call is considered a crime when it is a false warning of a terrorist attack, which will be, then, the Judge, on this occasion, who must decide the penalty. "In the Canary Islands all warnings of terrorist attacks turn out to be, to date, false, although you have to treat it as if it were a real alert", said Miguel Ortiz, Head of Area of the 112 service in Las Palmas. Ortiz also stated that this type of false warnings are usually made through a telephone booth, so it is very difficult to know the person who made it. "For example, the person who alerted a few weeks ago, warning of a bomb warning in the Old Cabildo has not yet been recognized", commented Ortiz.
On the Island there were last year 50 cases of false alarms, which represents 4% of the mobilizations carried out by the emergency troops throughout the year. Although the figure may not seem significant, Perdomo, head of the Fire Department of the Mobile Park, recalls that this type of acts are carried out to the detriment of everyone, "since we only have one unit for the exits and if they call us for an alarm that turns out to be a lie and then a real one occurs, this unit has to mobilize to the other service, so it takes much longer to arrive".
The number of incidents that did not occur increased in 2005 in relation to the previous year, since in 2004 the false alarms received in the Mobile Park amounted to 39, although that same year they also meant 4% of the activity of the firefighters of Arrecife. For its part, 2006 is being a year with low activity in what refers to these false warnings, since from the beginning of the year until last month only eight calls have been registered that have ended without performing the service.
A significant fact that should be highlighted is that in the previous year there were eleven false alarms in August, when the rest of the months this figure remained more or less constant, around four false warnings per month. This record represents an increase in the activity of the emergency troops in terms of these services that are not carried out, since in that month the percentage amounted to 16%. This data is also in third place in the incidents of that period of the Mobile Park, preceded by actions in traffic accidents and fires.
The month where fewer cases of false alarms occurred in 2005 occurred in May, since there was only one case of warning that did not involve the performance of a service. This incident accounted for 1% of the activity of the Mobile Park in that month.
The sound of the telephone will continue to probe in the switchboards of the emergency services of the Island. The troops of these bodies will continue, also, attending to all these calls, although some of them are issues of little importance, such as a container on fire. Others, however, do not require the provision of the service, although when they occur they are detrimental to society, especially in Lanzarote where material resources are scarce within the security forces.
