Toronto police are reminding the public that emergency alarms on subway trains are for crises only after someone pulled the alarm Thursday night because another passenger allegedly stunk.

MORE BOGUS 911 CALLS:

Hamilton man accused of making 249 false 911 calls

Man calls 911 over cold hamburger and fries from Hamilton McDonald's

Don't call 911 if your pizza isn't ready on time, OPP say

Officers responded to a call for "unknown trouble" just before 7:45 p.m. at Queen subway station.

The TTC was able to relay to police why the alarm was really activated just as officers were arriving at the station, Toronto police Const. David Hopkinson said.

At that point, they called and cancelled all other emergency personnel, but Hopkinson said he's not sure how many had already responded before the call went out.

"Understand that the passenger assistance alarm is a priority one response, meaning a three-tiered response is automatically engaged; police, fire and ambulance," he said.

"We treat it like a very serious event because we're expecting an emergency."

He said the train was temporarily held at Queen station while TTC dealt with the issue.

"I have no problems with any kind of emergency and you should press the passenger assistance alarm if it's a true emergency - but for a smell," Hopkinson said.

He added that the amount of resources that go into a situation like this and the fact the train was also held up, disrupting other people's commutes - just doesn't make it worth it.

There is a conductor on board, as well as other TTC staff that can assist in non-emergency situations, Hopkinson said.

"I'm using this as a teaching point to let people know that pressing the passenger emergency alarm in this kind of situation is not warranted."

He said police are not pursuing charges against the person who pulled the alarm.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...