Lincoln police investigating hoax fire emergency calls [Video]

Police are investigating a series of hoax calls regarding extreme fire emergencies across Lincoln.

Erika Thomas, public information officer for the Lincoln Police Department, said eight fraudulent fire reports have been made over the past month, including four since Monday afternoon.

The calls, also known as swatting calls, have been coming to the Lincoln Emergency Communications Center through a local crisis line about an active fire at various locations.

“LECC takes every phone call and text message from our community seriously, operating under the assumption that all reports reflect genuine emergencies,” Thomas said in a statement.

“However, when these requests for emergency services are determined to be swatting incidents, they have a detrimental impact on public safety, community trust and city resources,” she said.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue spokeswoman MJ Lierman said swatting calls are a waste of resources for LFR and create unnecessary stress.

“We have had them in …