by Fire Marshal David Raines
Recently, the fire dispatch for the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was inundated with a number of intentional false reports indicating that an ongoing fire was occurring. Many of the reported locations had the potential to pose a significant life safety hazard. “Descriptions like ‘fire at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina’ and ‘flames at the Embassy Suites’ and ‘a blaze at Pizza Hut’ were used in an apparent attempt to escalate the significance of the situation,” said Fire Investigator Captain Raymond Cicero
When fire officials realized that the fire reports were hoaxes, a team was formed to combat the malicious false calls. The investigative team consisted of members of the Ft. Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department’s Fire Investigation Unit headed by Cicero and the Ft. Lauderdale Police Arson Detectives.
Fire and Police Investigators traced the most recent call to a pay phone in downtown Fort Lauderdale and identified their suspect placing the call on surveillance video. Armed with that information, Cicero set out to find the suspect. He was able to locate the suspect walking on Broward Boulevard. Fort Lauderdale Police Detectives were summoned and the suspect was arrested. The suspect was identified as Jerry Tyrone O’Neal. O’Neal, 41, was charged with eight counts of reporting false fire alarms.
This is typical of Captain Cicero’s leadership and passion for his job. Ray is relentless in his pursuit to determine a fire’s cause and identify a suspect if there is evidence that a fire was intentionally set. Cicero is a 17-year veteran and has headed the Department’s fire investigation unit for six years. He has investigated over a 1,000 fires in his career and possesses a long resume of fire investigation training and certifications. It is his natural instincts and sense of curiosity that sets Ray apart from most others in his field.
Prior to O’Neal’s arrest, there were several other locations in Fort Lauderdale that the caller claimed were on fire including the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, the Sun Sentinel building and several condominiums near Sunrise Boulevard. Fire Officials believe that O’Neal may be responsible for a number of false calls that occurred over a period of several months. “The caller often chose high profile locations that required the Department to dispatch a maximum number of apparatus and personnel,” said Cicero.
During his bond court appearance, O’Neal erroneously told Broward County Judge John “Jay” Hurley that he lived in Switzerland. Hurley said O’Neal was exhibiting erratic and unstable behavior and recommended O’Neal’s case be handled in mental health court. His bond was set at $12,000.
Behavior like this needlessly consumes fire department resources and has the potential to affect the fire department’s response to simultaneously occurring emergencies,” said Captain Cicero
