County Commissioner Abuses 911?

A Sequatchie County Commissioner made a 911 call, not to report an emergency, but to complain about a fire drill that he says "inconvenienced" him.

It is against the law to call 911 if it's not an emergency and if the call ties up 911 lines that would otherwise be used to handle life-or-death situations.

On Saturday the Sequatchie County Sheriff's Department held a fire drill inside the jail. They called in all six fire departments that serve the county. The sheriff says there were more than a dozen fire trucks lined up on Fredonia Road taking part in the exercise.

The controversy arose when County Commissioner Reggie Camp, who lives on Fredonia Mountain, said he couldn't get by all the fire trucks.

NewsChannel 9 got a copy of the 911 call Camp made Saturday, May 10.

911: "Sequatchie County 911?"

Camp: "Yeah, this is Reggie Camp. I'm just wondering why they got the dad-blammed road blocked, going up Fredonia Mountain at the jail?"

Tuesday Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock explained "Saturday we were doing a state-mandated fire drill of the justice center, this is required by the state to keep our state certification."

The new Sequatchie County Justice Center houses up to 96 inmates and can have more than a dozen employees and visitors inside at any given time.

Saturday's drill was to help emergency services understand what to do in case of fire or other disasters and how to evacuate everyone to safety. The drill was also a learning experience for volunteer firefighters who took their own time to continue their training and education.

"We found there were a lot of things we need to brush up on, that we didn't do right," Sheriff Hitchcock said.

The sheriff said firefighters laid hoses from hydrants and trucks in the street to the buildings' sprinkler system to make sure all systems work.

But in the 911 call Commissioner Camp told dispatchers he didn't like it.

Camp: "That's a bunch of inconvenience to most of the people, you know. I's just wondering if that's a authorized thing to do that?"

In another exchange with a dispatcher Commissioner Camp went on to say he didn't think the drill was serious business.

Camp: " Because there's a lot of people driving that Fredonia Road, you know, for them to be playing, they can get a side road somewhere."

Sheriff Hitchcock said "this is the same kind of response we'd have in a real situation. We weren't playing games. This was the real thing, everybody was serious."

The sheriff pointed out that there are several other side roads that can take traffic around the jail if there's congestion or emergency vehicles parks out front.

There will be more drills like the one Saturday, Sheriff  Hitchcock said, because he is bound by state law to make sure the county has plans and operations in place to ensure the safety of inmates, employees and visitors when disaster strikes.

Commissioner Camp is heard on the 911 call saying he will make sure he raises the issue with other county officials at the upcoming County Commissioner's meeting next Monday.

Commissioner Camp told us by phone late Tuesday afternoon he doesn't think it's necessary to block a road for a fire drill and he's "not ashamed of his position."

Michael Twitty, director of the Sequatchie County Emergency Communications District, said it's a class-C misdemeanor under Tennessee law to make non-emergency calls, like Camp made, to 911.But he adds at this time the district probably won't file charges.