When a Florida man’s house caught fire, he ran to the local fire station, which was only a few doors down, to report the blaze. But instead of firefighters springing into action, they turned the man away and advised him to call 911.

Neville Morrison, 67, told the Sun Sentinel that he ran barefoot to the fire station to get the blaze at his home extinguished but an EMT there insisted that he call 911 instead. Morrison says he told the EMT that he didn’t have a phone, but that didn’t garner him any additional sympathy from the emergency worker.

“I said, ‘I have no phone,’” Morrison explained. “I said, ‘You can see the blaze coming out of the roof of my house.’ He told me twice to call 911, and then he closed the door with me standing outside.”

“It was not possible for me to call 911,” Morrison explained. “I thought running four houses down, where they are, it would be sufficient time for them to respond and to save my house.”

A neighbor finally called 911 for Morrison, after which time the volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene to douse the blaze.

Fire Department Spokesman Joel Gordon said, “Obviously that’s not the way we do business,” when discussing how Morrison was dismissed while reporting the house fire. Gordon also confirmed that an investigation into the incident had been launched.

After the 911 call, officials say it took firefighters seven minutes and 58 seconds to reach Morrison’s home. Gordon says the normal response time is approximately six minutes, so the response to Morrison’s home was not “ideal”, but it’s also not a part of the investigation.

The EMT who Morrison spoke with is a longtime employee with a good record of service.