One prankster’s call to McDonald’s caused damages for $5,000

An anonymous prankster’s call to a McDonald’s restaurant located in Kennewick, Oregon, US, caused said restaurant’s management team damages for the whopping sum of $5,000.

According to official reports, an unnamed prankster called a local McDonald’s restaurant in Kennewick and claimed that he call was coming from an official working for the Kennewick Fire Department. The prankster told the McDonald’s staff that the call was intended to test the fire alarm system installed in the restaurant. The staff followed the instructions given over the prank call and pulled the alarm handle, which resulted in nasty consequences. The installed anti-fire measures caused the system to start pouring chemicals used to extinguish fire from the ceiling. The chemicals covered the entire kitchen of the restaurant, including deep fryers and grills, which eventually made the management team close down the restaurant for the public. Shortly after the system was set off the damages done to the appliances and the restaurant’s revenue were estimated as being $5,000.

McDonald’s staff believed the prankster, since he claimed that the reason for asking them to pull the fire alarm and cost them thousands in damages was the fact that the local fire department wanted to carry out a remote test of the alarm system. After the news of the prank and the nasty consequences were picked up by the media the Kennewick Fire Department issued an official statement claiming that they would never ever carry such alarm tests over phone calls.

It turns out that this McDonald’s restaurant isn’t the only one that was targeted by a prankster. Similar prank calls have been made to a couple of other close-by McDonald’s restaurants, one of which also fell for the prank. The said restaurant is located in Stanfield, Oregon, US, and its staff also pulled the fire alarm.