SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - According to Schenectady Fire Department officials, ten percent of the department's annual budget is spent on false calls.
Each false, avoidable call to the Schenectady Fire Department costs the department $500, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Gillespie says.
Fire officials are now working on ways to reduce the number of false fire calls with the hopes of saving the department money on overtime and unnecessary usage on the fire trucks.
While firefighters rush out to medical calls more often than anything else they do, false calls are still the second most common call the department receives.
Fire Chief Michael DellaRocco says roughly 15 percent of fire calls are false ones, but they have to answer to each call, just in case.
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