Deejay’s Toilet Hoax Prompts Flood of Calls

Radio personality Rick Dees redefined the meaning of toilet-bowl humor Monday on his morning drive-time radio show, leading gullible listeners to flood sanitation and water districts with phone calls.

Dees, in what seemed like a news report to some, told his radio audience that toilets in Orange and Los Angeles counties could explode with sewage during the day due to water-pressure problems.

It caused a deluge of phone calls from more than 100 listeners to Orange County water and sanitation districts. Officials at several districts said they fielded frenzied calls from customers worried that sewage would back up in their commodes.

Hundreds of listeners also phoned the radio station during the program and throughout the day, said Jeff Wyatt, program director of KIIS-FM (102.7). Some sought advice on how to deal with the problem, he said.

Dees had told listeners to weigh down their toilet covers with a minimum 10 pounds in case sewage exploded from the toilets. It wasn’t until the end of the broadcast that he announced he was only kidding.

“It was an April Fool’s joke on March 22. It was a stupid thing to do, but (Dees) did it,” said Wyatt. “April Fool’s jokes are stupid. There was no harm intended and there was nothing potentially harmful.”

Steve Saub, a Federal Communications Commission official in Washington, said he had not received any complaints about the hoax.

The FCC prohibits the broadcast of false information concerning a crime or catastrophe if the broadcast could cause public harm. The commission could fine or penalize violators under a rule developed last May after several broadcast stations fabricated stories.

Wyatt was “not happy” with the prank, but he said that it there are no plans to reprimand Dees. He said he didn’t think there would be an FCC complaint.

Dees carried the prank out all through the four-hour morning program, then about 10 a.m., announced it was a hoax--a practice run for a future April Fool’s Day joke. The station continued to broadcast the retraction during the rest of the day, Wyatt said.

It was, however, too late for local water and sanitation officials, who spent hours on the phone Monday morning calming customers’ fears.

“What he did was irresponsible,” said Patrick McNelly, spokesman for the Orange County Sanitation Districts. “There was nothing of the kind taking place. If there was a backup . . . we would respond accordingly.”

The sanitation district received about 30 to 50 calls, McNelly said. He said the district is considering filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.

“The biggest inconvenience was the needless worry and anxiety that (it) presented our customers,” said Pam Brigandi, spokeswoman for the Irvine Ranch Water District. “Obviously, it took our time away from doing more productive things.”

The company received about 50 calls.

“If people were not awake enough to hear what he was saying, I guess they got caught,” Wyatt said. “Why would sewage come exploding out of your toilet? It really doesn’t make any sense.”