False alarm
Beccles: Firefighters called to report of person trapped under sofa
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
2:36 PM
A confused resident called out fire crews after mistakenly thinking there was someone trapped under his sofa.
The man, of Clowes Court, Beccles, made the call at just before midday and a crew from the town arrived.
However, they discovered it was a false alarm and left 20 minutes later after reassuring the confused homeowner.
Latest News See all
- Video: Two men arrested after man is stabbed near to town’s Crown Court
- Travel: Spill leads to long A12 delays
- Suffolk/Essex: Why good local newspapers play such a vital role in the community
- Update: Tributes paid to Carmen Bucur who died in A14 collision at Nacton
- Lowestoft: Warning after fake bank notes circulated
More news
- Video: Two men arrested after man is stabbed near to town’s Crown Court
- Travel: Spill leads to long A12 delays
- Suffolk/Essex: Why good local newspapers play such a vital role in the community
- Update: Tributes paid to Carmen Bucur who died in A14 collision at Nacton
- Lowestoft: Warning after fake bank notes circulated
- East Anglia: Help our air ambulance heroes and be a lifesaver
- Bramford: Fate of village meadows could be resolved at meeting tonight
- Poll: New Tesco store opens its doors in Church Street, Saxmundham
- UK: Beatles star Ringo Starr pays tribute to Bee Gee Robin Gibbb
- Orford: Food revolution at town’s primary school
10 comments
Can we have more stories like this please? The comments are top drawer, superb!
Report this comment
Shotley Bert
Sunday, March 6, 2011
See from your accompanying pic to this very interesting story that 3 fire engines responded. Better to be safe than sorry I suppose.
Report this comment
JOHN BURLS
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
I imagine that the Data Protection Act may prevent more information on this story. It also demonstrates the sort of thing our firefighters get called out for; not just fires, and still important. Will confused gentlemen have a number to call in the future? As for the quality of the paper, it's a local newspaper and the copy reflects that rather well, I think. In addition, the newspaper website is free to all of us commentators - so does it really behove us to complain?
Report this comment
caroline green
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Another case of poor journalism. Real stories are ignored by this newspaper; or notnewspaper as the case maybe.
Report this comment
Mr T
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Am i reading a different headline? I read it as firefighters called to a "report of" person trapped under sofa................ hype, fake, recommended headlines................ Are general public that bored?
Report this comment
paul cavanagh
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
does the Fire and Rescue Service do anything really interesting like extinguishing a discarded lit cigarette end?
Report this comment
G C
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
I thought I heard someone call my name earlier... but I was mistaken.
Report this comment
Colin
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
I suspect there's rather more to this story than has been reported here: what happened when the call was made? Was it a 999 call, or was the call made directly to the local fire station? If it was an emergency call, what questions did the emergency operator ask before calling out a fire engine? What happened when the fire engine turned up at the caller's house, presumably expecting to find someone "trapped" under a sofa? And what was the cause of the "confused resident's" confusion? Should a doctor with experience in treating mental health have been in attendance to evaluate the "confused homeowner"? Or was the confusion caused by the ingestion of some psychoactive substance? Currently, this story is just another example of the laughably poor standards of "journalism" found in the mundane shallows of the local and regional press (was the copy filed by a school pupil on work experience to let them "have a go" at writing for the paper, or was it actually written by an employee on the news desk?). With some guidance from the editor or from an experienced staff writer, this could have been helped to shape it into something resembling a compelling and informative story. As it is, the piece simply confirms what we already know about dull and shoddy local rags.
Report this comment
martha farquhar
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
So the story is about a person who wasn't trapped under the sofa?... Shouldn't the headline read "Beccles - Person not trapped under sofa"?. I have a story as well - "Felixstowe - no cats stuck up trees" Let me know when you want the copy on that one...
Report this comment
Citizen
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
So "Person trapped under sofa" is a completely fake headline. Nice bit of hype.
Report this comment
beerlover
Wednesday, March 2, 2011