"Troubled" empty house with leaking pipe calls 911 for assistance

Ghosts made the call? A house that endured a leaking pipe for many months dialed 911 on Wednesday, finally bringing town officials to the rescue, reports the local newspaper. (Salem News)

Comments

[Somebody]

It must be nice to be "left financially secure by his late father, he doesn't work" so he can afford to let his childhood home (assessed at $375K) just rot.

[MidtownCoog]

The ghoss is also keeping me from accessing the article.

Who say, boo!?!

[Phranqlin]

It would have only taken a few minutes to turn off the water before leaving.

[Max Headroom]

Every vacationer's nightmare. You can't always shut off all utilities. He should have had someone checking the house at least every few days.

@Somebody: I love snark because someone out there is better off than you are. I know, it's a crime. Socialism now!

[Lambiepie]

the leak may have been caused by a freezing of pipes
while the guy was away travelling
as he often does

[Chris.]

I live out in the country and after a heavy rain my land line dials 911 and 411. Really sucks with the sheriffs department coming out to my house each time it calls 911 and it really sucks having to explain to Verizon that no, I did not call information 140 times last month at a buck fifty a pop.

[AngrySockMonkey]

I have the same problem where I live. When ever it rains heavy my phone dials 1 900 numbers. No honest.... really!

[buddy]

looks like science is trying to take credit for jesus' work. again.

[Somebody]

@Max Headroom: I'm happy with my lot in life, thanks for asking. The guy should enjoy his good fortune with some style rather than letting stuff go to waste. It's not a jealousy thing, but a disdain for mindless wastefulness. His dad probably wasn't envisioning this when he left his house to him either.

[TomK]

Chris - Sounds like the copper lines from the CO to your house is suffering from water intrusion into a junction box, a splice point, or possibly the cable itself. Open a trouble report with your phone service provider and have then troubleshoot it the next time it rains to find the short circuits. (the "dialing 911" symptom is caused by the tip and ring wires connecting and disconnecting in a pattern similar to the old standard rotary dialing digits and the CO is recognising the dialed digits and routing the call as appropriate.)

[Tom Weidermeijer]

@ TomK

Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering about Chris' phone problem.

[stevenvictx]

Wow, my water bill is bad enough just with 1000 gallon min reading on the meter.( and yes I like to say wow)

[Chris.]

Thanks TomK. Verizon is well aware of the problem and has chosen not to replace anything.

[TomK]

(apologies to everyone else for this side trip into troubleshooting-land.)

Chris,
Open a fresh trouble report and escalate (ask for a supervisor). Especially if this is a repeating trouble that has not been resolved. Explain what's been going on from the start - the super may pull up your old ticket(s), but the info on them will be really limited and it's always good to get a fresh take on the symptoms. Q - When it rains, do you hear crackling/popping on the phone line? If so, that's another symptom to report in addition to the false dialing of 911 calls. Keep in mind that you want it fixed so that the 911 center and sheriff can stop spending time on the invalid calls, and you can stop having to call Verizon for credits for the false 411 calls.

[Krash]

I smell insurance scam.

[Me (the original)]

Salem? The witches cast a spell on the house.

[Plumbing]

That would be possible when there is a paranormal activity occurring with that telephone call. The ghost seemed to be concerned with the house repairs.