Have You Ever Called 911?
A person at work told a story earlier this week, about coming home in the middle of the night and noticing a neighbor’s house on fire(!). He called 911, and I guess it was quite an ordeal. Within minutes the neighborhood was simply lousy with fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, etc. Everyone was safe, he said, but the house suffered Big Damage.
And I started thinking about 911… In my entire life I believe I’ve only called it three times.
In Atlanta Toney and I were sitting at a red light one afternoon, and watched in disbelief as a car came screaming through the intersection, clipped the rear bumper of another vehicle, and went airborne. It was an amazing thing to behold; that hick-wagon was corkscrewing like something off The Dukes of Hazzard.
I instantly called 911 on my comically oversized “car phone,” and they said they already knew about it, but thanks. Shit, man… only ten seconds had passed. Wotta ripoff.
Also in Atlanta someone knocked the driver’s window out of my car one night, and helped themselves to my in-dash stereo, as well as the coins on the console. Grrr….
I called 911 when I first realized what happened, and was still charged-up and frantic. But they weren’t impressed. I was transferred to some kind of hall-of-mirrors voicemail system, and prompted to “press one for breaking and entering, two for assault, three for car theft,” etc. And if you think I’m joking, you would be sadly mistaken.
I also had a basket of laundry stolen off the backseat of my car in Atlanta. But I didn’t call the cops for that one. Why bother? That city is a swirling cesspool of crime. They couldn’t give a single dingle about the theft of my perfectly faded jean jacket. You know, since somebody probably had their skin flayed-off, a few doors down. But I cared, and it still pisses me off.
And a couple of years ago I went into our basement here, and it smelled strongly of lighter fluid. Or something along those lines. I thought there was a leak of some sort, and the whole place was about to go up in a big mushroom cloud.
I didn’t want to call 911, so I took time to find the non-emergency number at the fire department (not an easy task). But they still answered, “Emergency services! What is your emergency?”
I tried to downplay it, and tell them it was probably nothing. But they sent a whole team of fire trucks, sirens a-blaring. This, of course, brought all our neighbors out, and triggered much neck-stretching.
It was a crazy scene. One of the firemen jumped off the truck with an axe in his hand! If the front door had been closed, I think he would’ve knocked it down. He looked like he was just itching to knock something down.
It turned out someone had illegally dumped some sort of chemical down the sewer, and the smell was coming up in our basement. I didn’t care for it, not one tiny bit.
So, those are the three times I’ve called 911. What about you? Have you ever had to call those folks? What were the circumstances? And how did it turn out?
Use the comments link below to tell us all about it.
And I’ll be back soon.
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Heh, I called it only once I believe, for a breakin at my house. We have no poloce force in our township on Sundays and it took about 3 hrs for the stateies to arrive.
Sorry, I was so freaked out after reading the post that there were ‘no comments’.
A friend of mine called 911 one night when he was having “meth flashback paranoia” and thought he saw someone lurking outside the living room window. He woke me up AFTER he had called the police. Of course, the cop that came could find no footprints in the dirt or other evidence of any peeping tom/potential intruder. He kept looking at my buddy, as he was still pretty animated and nervous. After the police left, I warned him to wake me up FIRST before doing anything stupid like that again.
Thats police.
WooHoo
Top Ten!
Happy Friday, Surfers!
I cooked a turkey (brutally hung over) one New Year’s Day. I didn’t have a drip pan in my oven and it set off the smoke alarm in the building. I called the fire department to come and turn off the smoke alarm (it was a hard wired unit for the entire building) and they came with sirens blazing and ran up the stairs to my third floor apartment with axes in hand. I got quite a lecture on the joys of drip pans, and they went on their way. I called the non-emergency number and explained that it was a turkey IN THE OVEN and there was no need to come with all the drama, but I guess they were having a slow day.
Fire truck sirens and hangovers don’t mix.
Never even thought about 911. Guess I’m just another Honky in Honkytown.
Was that terrible to say!
I’ve called 911 three times that I can remember, twice for people at work- one a 10 foot fall causing only 2 cracked ribs (lucky), one for a woman with severe abdominal pain, turned ot to be kidney stones.
The third time was a big car crash on a freeway in Toronto, but I was in the fast lane going the other direction, so I don’t know how that turned out.
I just have a mental polaroid of a guy staring out the side of his car where the door was supposed to be, with his eyes and mouth wide open, still trying to steer as his car ground along the steel guardrail about 8 feet away from me.
And then it was all gone into my rear view mirror.
Bitte Nein!
I witnessed an accident on Lee Street in Greensboro one night while pumping gas at a Gate station. I called using my cell phone and they asked for my name…
“Can’t I just call anonymously?” I asked.
“Yes,” said the man with the mechanical southern accent.
“Then lets just leave it at that.”
It was all I could do to break the signal. I had to turn off my cell to do it. I was very paranoid for a few hours after I made the call.
Knuclehead – they brought the axes to help carve the turkey.
BTW – belated Happy Anniversary to you and the hubby Knucklehead.
I’ve called 911 for traffic collisions.
If I know the locality I prefer to dial the appropriate police department directly. But sometimes I have no clue where I am.. ** is this Jackson Township, Millstone Township or Lakewood Township** ?
So, in those situations I call 911 and hope the dispatchers can figure it out.
My younger brother got a huge “pet” turtle from some guy down the road. He was picking it up one day and it chomped him on the stomach and sucked it’s head back in the shell. He started screaming, blah blah blah, and we laid him on a recliner. One of his friends held the turtle upright because we were afraid that if it fell over it would take a chunk of flesh with it. He kept passing out because he said that each time he tried to breath it would clamp down harder. We called 911 and I started looking for a way to get the thing off. You couldn’t even see the turtle’s head, it was pulled so far back in the shell. I proposed that we take knives and split the thing in half.
But before we could try my plan the ambulance showed up. By that time the neighbors were out and one reclusive lady next door came running over in her gown with a giant pot and a spoon. “They’re afraid of storms!” she kept saying. She was running across the yard banging on the pot with her spoon. When she got about 10 feet from my brother the turtle let go. She was huffing, out of breath, and she held up the pot and spoon and said, “They’re afraid of storms. Sounds like thunder.” Then she turned around and walked off. That crazy bat was my hero for a while.
He still had to go to the hospital to get sewed up and get several shots – I think I remember something about shots for meningitis, but it’s been a long time.
Once for a huge-ass copperhead in my backyard. Another time, 911 called us, at 2 a.m., to see if we were ok because someone had called there from our house then hung up. I kept saying we were ok, and they kept asking me if someone was ‘standing right there making me say that.’ After insisting that I was ok, they asked if we had a cordless phone (they were kinda new then). They said that some phones would randomly dial numbers and that that was what must have happened. Weird.
I have called 911 tons of times. My sister was an epileptic and would have these massive attacks that we could not bring her out of.
I was 15 and witnessed a Vett tip the back end if a porshe on i 95 outside of philly and called on one of those HUGE bag phones. I have never seen a car flip end over end like that in my life. the vett was in peices along the road after that. the dude was fine just a few scratches. I was involved in a carriage accident and got to ride in the ambulance for that one which sucked because they did not play the siren.
I only called 911 once to report my car being stolen. We were working late one night doing inventory at a well known electronic shack eh store that remain anonymous. Upon completing the night, We all started walking to the parking lot and I scanned and counted thecars since is was 3 am in the morning and we were the only ones out there. My math wasn’t adding up. Something was wrong five people, four cars. Did somebody ride in with someone else? No, I recognized evryone elses car but mine. I yelled out “My f’n cars is missing, I know I f’n parked it here!” I looked everywhere but no car. Now I’m really pissed because we have to go back in and called the police and brother that’s not soemthing you want to do at 3 am in Washington DC. On top of that, we had to go back in and turn off the alarm and explain to the alarm company why we had to re-enter the building and if you think I’m joking, you would be sadly mistaken. With numbers from the counts still buzzing around my head and the three or more beers we drank that night while counting useless electronic crap, I tried to descibe my car and give the the licesne plate number. They looked around the parking lot and checked to see if anything turned up but nothing. But I cared, and it still was pissing me off… I was wondering how I was going to get to my real job in the morning. A month later, I’m waiting for a bus to take me to that crappy electronic shack I worked at when I see a tow truck dragging my car behind it with the front grill all smashed up. When I get to work, I call the police department and they tell me that “Oh, we found your car abandoned in parking lot so we had it towed”. WTF? Don’t they call you first and tell you where you can come get your vehicle before they tow it any more? So to get my broke up piece of shit car back, I ended up paying $75 in towing charges, a $150 impound fee and $45 in transportation cost (taxi) to get to the damn impound yard to get my damn car back. Let alone, the assholes busted my door lock, ripped a hole in my trunk, took my spare tire, my brand new car radio and speakers, busted my igition switch and removed all my personal possessions from the car (child car seat, a photo album, tools etc). I didn’t care for it, not one tiny bit. And mind you that I only paid $250 dollars for this car.
I called 911 once when my stalker broke into my house one night while I was in bed sleeping. And I called on another occassion because my stalker was on my roof. And a third time when I thought my stalked was on the roof…he wasn’t. Your only paranoid if they aren’t out to get you. Only one cop car showed up on each ocassion.
Called another time because a huge barn was on fire – they already knew about that one.
Someone called for me once when I was in a bad car accident. I remember an ambulance or two showed up, other than that I am drawing a blank.
I called 911 once when my stalker broke into my house one night while I was in bed sleeping. And I called on another occassion because my stalker was on my roof. And a third time when I thought my stalker was on the roof…he wasn’t. Your only paranoid if they aren’t out to get you. Only one cop car showed up on each ocassion.
Called another time because a huge barn was on fire – they already knew about that one.
Someone called for me once when I was in a bad car accident. I remember an ambulance or two showed up, other than that I am drawing a blank.
oops. damn.
Jason – that was hilarious!
As for me, I’ve never called 911. I live in Southern California and have seen plenty of horrific things, but there are always lots of people around so I just figure that someone else will take care of it. Is that bad? No need to tie up all the emergency line, right?
I’ve never called 911, but I called the police on somebody recently, and that’s the first time I’ve ever done that. Some guy I’d never seen before was sleeping in his car in front of my house. I told the police it was an unfamiliar car, but now I see it every day down the street. Heh. I guess he really does live there! So far I haven’t had BITCH spray painted on my garage door, so I guess we’re cool.
I often call the cops on the noise making students here where I live – and as you said, the non-emergency number is not easy to find. Oddly enough, when you call the non-emergency number here at night, they switch you over to the 911 dispatch center.
I too have called 911 exactly 3 times.
Once for a regular old car accident. Another time (about 2 months ago) I saw a guy in my apt. complex snooping around some windows. He looked like bad news to me.
My best 911 emergency happened one morning when I was cutting through an alley on my way to work. I saw a girl walking down the sidewalk ahead of me. I remember thinking it was a weird time of day for someone her age to be out wandering around (she was about 20), but I lived near some bars so I thought she might just be stumbling home after a long night. As I got closer to her she zeroed in on my car and started going ape shit crazy… she was screaming, cussing and charging at me almost like she knew me and I had done something to really piss her off. It was weird.
okay… Jason officially wins for best 911 story. Awesome.
Back in junior high my brother and I were hanging out at the mall with a “bad element”. At one point, this kid went to the pay phone outside a supermarket, called 911, and said in a young kid voice: “My mom fell down in the fruit section, and she’s not moving, and there’s stuff coming out of her mouth.” There was an ambulance and fire truck there pretty quick. We thought it was the funniest thing since “Your momma eats kitty litter” at the time…
A few years ago I was driving up the local highway, when I looked in my rear view mirror just in time to see a white VW suddenly swerve across two empty lanes, ricochet off a jersey barrier, and fly into the woods. I slowed down, saw two other cars back there stop to investigate, and called 911.
I’ve called 9-1-1 once in college when I lived off campus and our neighborhood alcoholic/neighbor “Bud” flipped his bike out front while he was drinking and peddling. He had to have been 60 but looked 80 and was all gashed up.
I’ve called the non-emergency number twice.
Once because some lady up the block let her 3 year old and 5 year old out on our sidewalk which is a very busy, blind-turn corner to sell!!!! Lemonade!!!! They were on the curb, a 3 and 5 year old selling lemonade. WTF! No parents in sight! So I called and the man on the phone thought I was cruel and treated me as such, but come on, had these kids been hit, my ass would have been sued.
The second time, some punks up the street were having a party and their stupid drunk friends were interfering with my ability to sleep that night.
February 20, 2005 (around noon) – I’m settling in, getting ready to watch the Daytona 500 and the fire alarm goes off in the apartment building that I lived in at the time. Nothing new, happened pretty frequently. I did the mandatory open the door and listen/smell for trouble (nothing), then closed the door. About 15 seconds later, I hear glass break outside, then I hear yelling. I opened my window to hear more screaming and see smoke coming from about 20 feet away. There was a man on his back porch next door and I politely asked “excuse me, is the building on fire?”. He replied “SHIT YES IT’S ON FIRE – GET THE HELL OUT!!!!”. That’s about the time I freak out. Mind you, I live on the 3rd floor. I immediately call 911 and report the emergency. Then I throw on shoes, jeans and a coat and grab my cat and head for the door. As I open the door, thick-black smoke is rolling up the stairwell. I basically had to take a huge deep breath and feel my way down 3 flights of steps, not knowing whether I’m getting ready to walk directly into an inferno with a terrified Persian cat clawing the daylights out of my arms. Luckily, I made it to the door and pushed my way out. Not so lucky for the folks who’s apartment caught fire. Their 18 month old son was killed. Anyway, that’s my brush with death and the 911 call.
One night I was sitting alone in the house I rented and a guy I had never seen before knocked on the door and asked to use the phone. He didn’t say what for, but when I let him in to make his call, he called 9-1-1. He told the cops that he had witnessed a drug deal going down a couple of streets over, but then hung up when they asked him for his name. He then ran out of my house. Seconds later the operator called back and I explained what happened, but I still got a lecture about how 9-1-1 is for emergencies only.
I called 911 last week on a drunk driver. I was out with a friend after we put a Magnaflow exhaust on his Jetta, and saw this fucker swervin’ all over the road. We followed him for maybe a quarter mile before I figure enough is enough. He almost hit the concrete barrier like 4 times and could barely keep it in his lane. It was kinda cool to watch all these cop cars come out of the woodwork and light him up. I also called it a couple years back when a raccoon got onto our enclosed porch and started terrorizing my cat. I don’t think they were terribly amused, but I was new to the wildlife that live in northwestern CT, having just moved here from NY…Those are the more interesting ones, as I’ve called to report a couple minor car accidents, but thats it.
Years ago when I lived in Denver, a friend of mine owned a bar that had been busted several times for underage drinkers. One friday night myself and a friend were in there having a few when a girl came in that I knew was underage. I quietly told my friend, the owner, and after asking her for an ID, which she could not produce, he asked her to leave. Before her exit she spotted me at the bar (I should mention that we did not care for each other very much).
My friend an I left about an hour later and low and behold the underage girl was waiting in the parking lot, in her car with some friends. Well, a car chase ensued and we ended up in the parking lot of a gas station in a fist fight. I eventually got her on the ground and smashed her head on the pavement a couple times and thought it was done. I went to a payphone at the station and dialed 911. As the operator answered, my friend shouted “LOOK OUT” . I turned around and that crazy bitch smashed me in the face with a brick-
Blood flew and my nose was shattered.
Cops came, arrested her and took me to the hospital.
I sued, she paid for everything including the plastic surgery.
Good Afternoon Surf Reporters………………….
A cuppa’ two, tree times for accidents I had witnessed, and like most everyone else here, they said they were already aware of the situation.
The one and only drama filled time was when I was working at a Ford dealership going on 10 years ago. A retired salesman had purchased a car a week earlier, and had returned to have a few scuffs buffed out of the rear bumper.
The body shop was a bit busy, so salesman grabbed a can of compound and a rag and went out to do it himself.
Now mind you this was in the dead of winter, temps were in the teens with minus zero wind chill, and said retired salesman was not only a senior citizen, but was a 2 pack a day smoker and more than a little overweight.
I was in my office when one of the lot boys came in frantic and stated ” I think Don B. is dead!”
“Wha’? Why do you say that?”
“Well, I walked by his car about 5 minutes ago, and he was sitting in the car, probably trying to get warm. I just walked past now, and he hasn’t moved. I knocked on the window hard, and he still didn’t move. So I opened the door to tap him on the shoulder, thinking he was asleep, and his head just fell forward and he’s slumping up against the steering wheel!”
I immediately called 911 and ran outside.
Surer than shit , poor old Don was going through myocardial infarction with full arrest. I felt for a pulse, which was extremely thready and weak, about every three seconds.
I pulled his hulking dying ass out of the car(amazing what a little adrenaline does for your strength) and dragged him into the bodyshop and proceeded CPR.
Fortunately there is an ambulance company right around the corner of the dealership, it was their payday, and in a matter of a minute or two, there were 4 paramedics with field bag and defibrolater and an ambulance.
I continued breaths, a medic proceeded with compressions and they finally gave him the shock. They stabilized him enough to strap him into a gurney and into the back of the wagon he went, off to the ER.
He made it, although a small part of me wishes he hadn’t. He had suffered a pretty good amount of dain bramage and had a hard time of it afterward. He lived for another couple of years after the whole thing, but wasn’t really all there.
I still get Karma points though, right?
Karma points for sure JCIII
I was installing a new phone in the computer room about a month ago. It had emergency numbers pre programmed into the push buttons. I must have hit the 911 but hung up with out realizing it. The police called back in a few minutes wanting to know what was worng. My wife answered and told them what I had probably done. They kept asking her if I was making her say this and was I right there forcing her to say things. She told them no and that everything was ok. They showed up at out door anout 15 minutes later. I asked if they wanted to see the phone so they would understend what happened but we must have seemed ok. They left and the wife and I just looked at each other. WTF was said a few times…
I have a few times on drunk drivers and the like, but there are two stories that stand out.
The first was on I-75 about 10 miles north of the Ohio line. Some guy and his beagle were walking down the south on the northbound shoulder. That wasn’t the issue. The thing that got me was that he was carrying a shotgun and appearantly hunting rabbits.
I’m all for hunting, just not within 10 feet of where I’m going 75 mph in a ton of steel, glass and rubber.
The second time was about 15 miles north of that spot. I was going north again and look over at the southbound lanes were I see a van with a 20′ or so boat in tow.
The boat was on fire. And not just a little bit either. This thing was ablaze from stem to stern whiel the driver was in the passing lane.
I think he saw it at the same time I did because I could see him moving to the shoulder in my mirror.
The 911 operator seemed a little skeptical but said they would roll the fire trucks.
Oh, one more. I was in 6th grade and my brother in 3rd grade when my father (a guy who built engines for Richard Petty as part of the factory race team) decided to replace a section of rusted fuel line by first cutting it out with an electric saw.
As Dad went into shock and my cousin just moved the flames around with the garden hose my little bother hit 0 and asked for the fire deptartment (this was in the pre-911 days). When he got the fire station he franticallygave them his name and address, told them the station wagin was on fine and they needed to come quick.
The firefighter who answered asked if it was a joke and explained that it was a bad idea to prank call the fire station. My brother went though everthing again and was met with further skepticisim.
That’s when he decided enough was enough and yelled “Look you F*&#ing A#$hole…”
Mom grabbed the phone at that point and loking out the door could see that a neighbor with a fire extinguisher had the flames out and told the firefighter that we were fine and only a block from the ER. He got all apologetic, Mom thanked him and took Big Lou to get the burns on his arm and shoulder fixed up.
I learned a lot that day.
I don’t really have any stories myself, but my then 3 year old son (now 13) once called 911 by accident.
*That was embarrassing. Especially since I was in my pj’s and quite surprised to see a uniformed officer at my door early in the morning!
Called only once and thats cause some guy hauling a trailer loaded with about 300 bales of hay doing 75 mph down a turnpike flipped his cigarette out the window and set the trailer on fire. I called 911 way before he even realized it was burning, we were honking but were afraid to get too close cause the flames were really shooting!!
I called 911 after Philip Wagner sodomized me in the old Price Theater.
As my homeys in Olyphant say, “9-1-1′s A JOKE!!!!”
Funny coincidence, a fax machine in the house across the street is calling 911 over and over. Cops keep showing up but the people who own the house are out of town.
When I was a kid my sister accidentally locked herself in the bathroom, the door knob fell off & there was no way to get her out! My dad called the regular fire dept # but it was after 10pm so rolled over to 911 & two fire trucks showed up (I guess it was a slow night!) The captain assessed the situation & asked my dad how old the little girl was? When they heard she was 16 the guys chopped the door down in 2 seconds flat! I laughed my ass off as sis in her baby dolls, head hung in shame marched passed those grinning firefighters!!
First, the time I didn’t: I was at a Southern Culture on the Kids Show in midtown Atlanta. I was there with my friend and his girlfriend, she becomes really ill, so we left. We come out to the parking lot, safely parked of course, to find the back window of my hatchback smashed out and my freakin bowling ball gone. This pretty much makes me an idiot for not taking it out before we left. Atlanta was a city “swirling cesspool of crime” and still is. I knew calling 911 was pointless, they could give a rat’s ass about my window and subsequent loss of a bowling ball..
Second the time I did: I was at a Kroger in Sandy Springs, which a city that just has a fancy way to say ‘we don’t pay taxes for the cesspool of Atlanta proper.’ Anyway, this guy comes flying into the parking lot at about 50 and blows out his front wheel on a speed bump, keeps on going (at about 40) stops, checks the damage, hops back in and continues his flat tire rampage. So I figured this might be a good time to be a good citizen, I call the Sandy Springs 911 with their new copshop system, paid for by the citizens, only to be put on hold by an automated attendant. I finally gave up and bought my goods.
Pagan- really?
I mean- really?
ok, wow.
yow.
In our last house, I happened to glance out our office window and saw someone jump my fence and hid behind a trellis we had (with a flowing vine type deal).
I called 911 and they got there in like 30 sec. They came down my driveway guns drawn (I kid you not) and did the ‘let me see your mf’in’ hands deal’.
Like something on tv. Apparently, he was involved in a domestic the next block over and booked when they called 911.
m.
swear to God!
Did I write Southern Culture on the Kids, whoa I meant Southern Culture on the Skids.
Thanks, Shiny Rod!
A long time ago I had bought a fancy ass telephone for my grandmother. Shes very old, and it was one of those kind w/the big ole number buttons & adjustable volume control. It also featured these nifty ‘quick dial’ buttons…extra large. A red one for the fire dept, a blue for police, etc., there were 3 in all. Grannie have trouble…boom, slam one of them big ass buttons and help would be there lickity-split.
So early one Sunday morning, I thought I’d program her new phone so it would be ready to go when I gave it to her. After the programing, I figured I should probably check it out…to make sure it worked, ya know? So I hit the 1st quick dial button…it worked! They answered 911 and I hung up.Tested the other 2 the same way…they worked too!
Everything was fine until I heard a loud knock on the front door of my little apt. After peeking out the window, numerous police cars had surreptitiously arrived at my front door…seemingly hastily arranged in a Blues Brothers type convergence.
At that point in my life I was known to smoke a lil pot now and then. Ironically, my lil apt. had a Cheech & Chong style cloud that was about 1 foot thick at the ceiling when the knock came.
It didn’t help that I was living in a ‘cool hippie’ area of town.
Needless to say I was somewhat apprehensive when I cracked to door open to address the 6 or 8 officers milling around on the stoop.
Truthfully, I don’t remember what was said…only that they did not come in to inspect like they had originally intended. I’d like to think I was some silver tongued devil that had just saved his own ass…more likely the cops smelled it (the pot, not my ass), attributed it to some pitiful, stammering, dumb young stoner trying to help his grandma and cut me some slack.
Oh…they did tell me to NOT do that anymore.
BTW…If I remember correctly, my Grannie loved the phone.
Only other time was last year when I was driving home when some ole drunk guy leaving a beer joint got in his pick-up, started it, put it in reverse, floored it, then proceed to go backwards at an alarming rate in front of me across a highway, through a grocery stores front lawn, over a curb, though a small fence, over another curb or two, then into a line of cars at an approx. 45 degree angle. The back of his truck stopped on the trunk of a car. 3 or 4 cars got all pushed together..it was a mess.Learned later that no one was hurt, and the state pulled the ole guys license.
Most recently was this summer when I was held up at gunpoint at my apartment front door as I was unlocking it to carry in groceries. I have since moved.
Then there was the time in my previous apartment that I was going out to my car late at night when I looked up and there was a man standing on an apartment balcony, no lights on in the apartment. Not a big deal, until he saw me see him and said “I only climbed up here to get away from a dog that was chasing me.” That’s when I called 911. Turns out he was an addict that had climbed up the post supporting the balcony and jumped over the railing- to break in, to escape the hallucinatory dog… who knows. Again, I moved shortly afterwards.
I’ve got a couple to add….the first one was when I was about 16, I called because we had a car in the pool parking lot next door, and there was definitely something bad going on over there…4 sketchy guys sitting there with a pair of binoculars, all wearing jackets in the middle of a humid ohio summer. Turns out they were casing the neighbor’s house as they loaded up for vacation. Second time was just this last year, we had a new neighbor in the apartments across the street who decided to yell a few choice words at some young children playing baseball in a field next door while my folks were barbecuing at my place…my dad has no tolerance for that, and decided to go talk to the guy about his choice of words. Trouble ensued and the guy came down to “put a beating on whitey’s old ass”. Problem is, my father happens to be a Concealed Carry Permit holder, who thought that his life was in danger, so the neighbor ended up staring at the wrong end of a .45. Police did not like seeing my dad with a guy on the ground at gunpoint, but understood after they ran the guy’s name…4 prior warrants out, and a small amount of hard drugs on him, with a lot more running through his system. Small town Ohio at it’s best.
Called 911 4 times. First time was when I started a brush fire at a campground when my bbg grill got hit by a gust of wind and started a hillside on fire.
Second was when a ballast in my office started smoking and caught the ceiling on fire.
Third was at the same office when a big ass grizzly bear walked by early one Sunday morning.
Last time was a few weeks ago on a road trip from Seattle to New York. Middle of the night in Gillette, Wyoming, a pickup truck was just parked in the middle of the freeway with no lights on.
They responded fast to the fires, and REALLY fast for the bear. The police ended up following the bear down the road, lights flashing, until it got far enough out of town not to cause any problems.
Called 911 in the parking lot of Wal-mart once when some mullet sportin’ redneck was smacking around his fat ugly girlfriend. They were cuffinh him and throwing him in the back of a squad car when I exited with my purchases.
Wally and I called one night because our lovely neighbors decided to piss off their balcony at 3 in the morning almost directly into our bedroom window and onto our sleeping heads. I yelled out the window about not being a douche bag. That musta pissed him off because he and all his budies started throwing rocks and trying to break into the apartment to kick my ass. We soon moved.
Now, I manage an apartment complex and have a cop who lives here and several more on speed dial in my cell phone. Life is good! I get immediate response for all y noise complaints/ ghetto people who don’t belong sightings.
On the other side of the drama is the actual firefighter/medics (which is what my husband does). You wouldn’t believe some of the reasons people call 911.
One night after a huge fire and being awake for a full 72 shift, my husband finally laid his head down at 3:00am, only to be awakened to another call. When he got there, it was a mother who was frantic because her and her daughter had been watching TV and the daughters legs fell asleep from the way she was sitting on the couch.
when i was a kid my father went to take me to school only to find that his car had been stolen. he called 911 and took me to the bus stop so i’d only be a little late. we get to the bus stop and there’s the car, in the parkinglot of a gas station/garage that was a well known chopshop. my dad calls his friend who’s a DEA officer and the two of them put the BEATING on the owner of the shop. when the cops came they wanted to arrest my dad but… well having a DEA officer as a whitness and the fact that it was his car he got to drive away.
after they replaced the window where my dad smashed the thief’s head through.
and gave him new tires.
I used to work at a gas station and we were constantly calling 911 … wrecks on the street outside, kid got sprayed in the face with gas because her father wasn’t watching her while she took the pump out of the car … people stealing … you name it.
I used to live in Amsterdam, and their 911 is actually dialed “112.” I had to dial it once because I saw a guy get hit by a car while he was biking. That happens all the time there. He was ok, fortunately.
Two times for 911.
The first time I was doing something on the computer and accidentally dialed 911. I didn’t know it had happened so then I continued dialing to log on to the Internet. Well, a couple of minutes later there is a policeman at my door. Turns out that the 911 dispatcher tried to call me back because they got a “hang-up” call and the line was busy (I was on the Internet). So, the officer just asked a couple of questionsto make sure I was okay . . . how embarrassing.
Second time I called was for an RV on fire. I was using a cell phone with a “714″ area code trying to call 911 in the middle of Nevada. All I could tell them is . . . “We have bad reception . . . burning RV on I-95 in Esmeralda County . . . mile marker ###”
Called ’911′ once …..I got put on ‘hold’ ah yeah lifes good in Ferndale ..
Grab me another ‘guiness’ I can handle this one myself
Dialed 800-Grab-DUI once when I saw toddlers walking around the back of a swerving drunk’s car. Sadly we were near a highway interchange and there was almost no way for him/her to get caught when I couldn’t see which direction they were headed…
Son dialed 911 as an infant. I hung it up hoping it hadn’t gone through yet. Cop showed up 2 minutes later. Oh the humiliation… especially when your hubby is a cop. I’m one of ‘those’ moms now.
I called the fire dept once when I smelled something burning in our basement. Me and my 2-yr old daughter headed outside to await their arrival. A couple of fire engines arrived very quickly (since the station was just a few blocks away). The funny thing was, my mother also pulled up in her car. She said she heard the fire engines go by her house (also a few streets away) and she had a ‘feeling’ they were headed to our house.
It turned out some big, old fuse attached to our dryer had started a melt-down which caused the bakelite on it to melt. Thus the smell. The firemen felt all along the walls to make sure nothing was on fire within them.
…..
The second time was when we came along a car that had left the road, smashed down a metal fence and travelled some 100′ into a field. We pulled over and someone came running up asking if anyone knew CPR. I was ‘it’ and had to climb what was left of the fence with trembling legs not knowing what I was going to see. I got there and the woman driver was clearly still breathing but had a probable concussion. All I had to do was make sure she stayed there (she kept trying to leave the scene) until the emergency vehicles arrived.
I don’t think I’ve ever called 911, although I have called the police a few times.
1) When I lived in SF and saw a man standing in the window directly across the street from me with binoculars looking into my apt. Got the advice of “close your blinds.” Apparently, you can be a peeping tom if you’re in your own house. Nice, eh?
2) 3 times at current apt for noise from the bars a quarter of a mile away – again, absolutely nothing done about it. I’ve talked to other neighbors and they’ve called multiple times as well, all with the same result – thank God for 2:00 a.m. bar closing time.
3) Years ago, I rented a condo with another girl. The woman who lived downstairs died and her complete white trash thieving daughter moved in (stole an angora sweater from me). She left her toddler in the car one hot summer day with the windows up. At least three different cop cars showed up and carted her ass away, as the kid was still in the car when they got there. She was known by the cops because she used to steal diapers from the local Target.
4) Not me, but my nephew called the cops one day last year about a drunk driver. He followed the driver at a safe distance monitoring the driver’s movements until the cops caught up.