COLUMBUS, Ind. — A prank call resulted in the fire suppression hood system being discharged at the Waffle House Restaurant on West Jonathan Moore Pike, causing the restaurant to temporarily close.
Fire investigators learned that the system was manually activated by an employee after answering a phone call from an individual claiming to be a member of the fire department. The caller advised the employee that the fire department needed to reset the suppression system and in order to do that the discharge handle needed to be pulled.
The Board of Health responded to the scene and fire investigators stated the eatery was closed for an unknown amount of time. The restaurant was required to recharge the system prior to re-opening to the public. Commercial cooking operations are required to have a fire suppression hood system when cooking operations create grease-laden vapors.
Columbus Fire Department Inspector Matt Noblitt says that a member of the fire department is always present when testing or inspecting a fire protection system and they would never ask anyone to test through a phone call.