SIBU: Firefighters from the Sungai Merah Fire and Rescue Station today display an act of kindness when attending to false emergency call today.
The firefighters had responded to a distress call at 3.28pm with the station sending a team to check on floods at a location near a roundabout in Jalan Sibu-Bintulu here.
When the team arrived, there were no signs of flooding but instead, they spotted three from a family waiving frantically by the roadside.
The three comprised a 25-year-old woman, her 61-year-old father, and her 2-year-old daughter.
The family admitted that they had made the false alarm call.
State Fire and Rescue Department assistant operation director Tiong Ling Hii said the three were left at the roundabout after they were unable to pay for the bus tickets to return to their longhouse about 34km from the scene.
“The three claimed they were left at the roundabout by the bus driver after they have no money to pay for the ticket.
“The woman had informed her husband, who is working in Bintulu, over their woes.
“Desperate and concern over the safety of his family, the woman’s husband was forced to make the false alarm call,” said Tiong.
He added the firefighters chose to not head straight back to the station but instead helped the three back to their longhouse.
“Their relatives were waiting anxiously for them to return home since it is the Gawai Dayak celebration tomorrow,” he said.