Feb. 10–A prank phone call proved to be costly for one Crossville hotel Tuesday morning after an employee sprayed a chemical fire extinguisher throughout the lobby of the business after she was convinced there was a fire.

The incident happened at the Comfort Suites on E. First St. and Peavine Rd. The hotel was evacuated and one employee who has a medical condition was treated with oxygen at the scene by the Crossville Fire Department.

“The caller identified themselves as the Cumberland County Fire Department and told the clerk they were receiving an alarm signal. They told the clerk to do exactly as I say,” Crossville Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris South said.

He said the caller convinced the employee to pull the fire alarm and to take a 10-pound ABC chemical fire extinguisher, pull the pin and spray the entire lobby with the extinguisher.

“The clerk was in a panic and she followed the orders,” South said.

He said the caller then attempted to get the clerk to start smashing out windows in the lobby.

A maintenance worker at the scene told them not to and they hung up the phone.

Crossville fire fighters then arrived on the scene and determined there was no fire. Large commercial fans were used to pull the chemical fumes from the fire extinguisher out of the building and clear the air.

“It’s unfortunate because this is going to be a costly clean up for them and there may be quite a bit of damage,” South said.

An employee who was treated with oxygen left the scene shortly after.

South said the clerk and hotel were victims to a prank that has been going around on the Internet for several years in which the caller convinces the person there is a fire and manipulates the victim into causing thousands of dollars of property damage.

“The hotel chain has apparently had correspondence with them (Comfort Suites) about these types of pranks. This is the first one we’ve had around here,” South said.

South said the fire department was going to spend the day going door-to-door at hotels in the city and warning them of the prank.

Fire officials said they would not call a business and direct them to do property damage in the event of a fire alarm.

The case remains under investigation.

Gary Nelson may be reached at [email protected]