Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The annual lists of B.C.’s most notable nuisance 911 calls and power outages in 2025 have led to reminders that emergency lines should be kept open for actual emergencies — and not for air fryer returns or noisy bugs.
E-Comm 911 — the agency that handles nearly all emergency calls in the province — released its annual list on Tuesday, revealing that people dialed 911 for reasons like a broken dishwasher and being locked out of their Airbnb.
The agency said someone also called 911 to complain about a non-electric car being parked at an EV charging station and to seek help getting a hornet out of their apartment.
Bugs also featured in provincial power utility B.C. Hydro’s list of notable outages in 2025, which included a Kelowna customer reporting an “alarming buzzing sound” that they suspected meant a problem with the power lines.
“The culprit? Cicadas. No repairs needed, just a reminder that nature can be noisy,” B.C. Hydro said in a statement.
A person once called B.C. Hydro suspecting that a buzzing noise was due to faulty power lines — but it was actually just cicadas. (Jean-Claude Taliana/CBC)
Nature was featured heavily in B.C. Hydro’s list of notable outages, including a beaver that felled a tree over power lines, a crow that flew into a transformer and two separate instances of ospreys dropping fish onto power lines.
B.C. Hydro even noted that one dropped fish was more than just a missed lunch for the errant osprey — it led to a brush fire near Ashcroft that required over 18,000 litres of water to extinguish.
This dropped fish from an osprey led to a large brush fire near Ashcroft, B.C., in August. (Ashcroft Fire Rescue/Facebook)
Among the other notable instances listed by the utility — which responded to over 61,000 calls for help in 2025 — included an inflatable Godzilla flying into power lines at a Nanaimo car dealership earlier this month.
Parking and fellow drivers are often among a commuter’s worst gripes, but officials say calling 911 to report someone being parked at a café and going to a grocery store instead isn’t a good use of resources.
E-Comm handles nearly all emergency calls in B.C. It says residents should only dial 911 in an actual emergency. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Bailey Mitchell, a police call taker at E-Comm, said in a statement that dispatchers have to treat every 911 call with urgency — even if it ultimately ends up involving someone trying to return an air fryer to Walmart.
“Every second we spend fielding questions about traffic, hornets or bad haircuts is time that could otherwise be helping someone in a life-threatening emergency situation,” Mitchell said.
E-Comm is reminding residents to only dial 911 in an emergency, and has provided a list of non-emergency situations when alternatives should be used instead. The agency handles over two million 911 calls a year.
For its part, B.C. Hydro is reminding residents that downed power lines are always an emergency, and people should stay at least 10 metres away before dialing 911.
“While outages can be unpredictable, many are preventable,” the utility says in its statement.
“[B.C.] Hydro urges the public to stay safe by watching for power lines, never flying kites, drones or carrying balloons near them, and securing items that could blow away.