Internet hoax has guests and staff activating fire sprinklers
The North Vancouver Hotel sustained more then $100,000 in damage after eight guests were tricked into flooding their rooms by knocking the pins out of fire sprinklers. Two unknown pranksters, calling themselves “Bobby” and “Michelle Green,” used an untraceable web service to phone the rooms and tell guests that a dangerous gas leak would ignite within minutes unless they released the pressure through their sprinklers. Similar calls were also made to several North Shore fast food restaurants. The incidents are similar to ones perpetrated by a Canadian web-group called PrankU or PrankNet, which has convinced hotel guests in the U.S. to consume their own waste and destroy rooms by setting off sprinklers, smashing walls, and throwing TVs out of windows.