Parrot Fuels Fire Alarm Furor

A parrot triggered an emergency call on November 16th when firefighters rushed to the scene in the hamlet of Daventry, UK, alerted by a monitoring company to the sound of a fire alarm in a private residence.

The company actually called resident Steve Dockerty, 63, to warn him of the alarm sound, but Dockerty told them he was fine, even as the alarm continued to blare in the background. Worried, the company alerted the local fire brigade, who arrived minutes later to the bewildered homeowner’s amusement.

He told them that his 17-year-old African grey parrot Kiki liked to imitate sounds, and that his other African grey, named Jazz, was “laughing his socks off” as Kiki imitated the alarm perfectly. The crew, who probably don’t see much action otherwise, were amused rather than annoyed at the comical situation.