OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A bill stamped past due will get your attention. But an Omaha senior citizen refused to pay for an emergency response in a city 1,500 miles away. Resolving the issue had been difficult until a First Alert 6 investigation.<\/p>\n
Linda Johnson has lived all 78 of her years in Omaha and never wished she could be a California girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been in California. I have a cousin living in California, but I don\u2019t want to go to California,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Billed three times for a call she didn\u2019t make<\/p>\n
But three times Linda got billed a first-responder fee of $353 by the city of Roseville, California, fire department for emergency service on Dec. 15, 2025.<\/p>\n
Her son, Ronald Trammel, said he knows she was not there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know for a fact that she was never in California on December \u2014 that month my mom was here,\u201d Trammel said.<\/p>\n
Johnson said she recognized the bill as an error but grew concerned as the notices kept coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it wasn\u2019t me. It might have been an error, and then they keep coming and now they tell me it\u2019s past due,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Trammel called the billing service for the city of Roseville, California.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour bill is for the cost recovery of the fire engine\u2019s medical response,\u201d a recording said.<\/p>\n
Convincing the Roseville, California, fire department to stop billing her became an emergency call for Linda.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might send it to a collection agency or credit agency,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Expert: Don\u2019t panic<\/p>\n
Nebraska Debt Relief credit expert Gale Streff reviewed the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t panic, for sure,\u201d Streff said. \u201cAnd even when it goes to a collection company, they have to send out a dunning letter \u2014 that\u2019s their legal requirement \u2014 to say, \u2018Hey, is this your debt or not?\u2019 And you can say, \u2018No, it\u2019s not my debt.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill voided after First Alert 6 inquiry<\/p>\n
First Alert 6 contacted the Roseville, California, fire department. A spokesperson said it was an error involving a single bill and that the city worked with its billing vendor to correct the mistake. The bill has been voided, no payment is due, and the department apologized for any distress the error caused Linda.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot the problem solved. I really appreciate it. It\u2019s a load off my back. I\u2019ve got enough bills. I\u2019ve got enough problems. I don\u2019t need some in Roseville, which I\u2019ve never heard of,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
The Roseville fire department and its billing vendor have now heard of Linda Johnson \u2014 who lives in Nebraska, not California.<\/p>\n
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