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Numerous people who know Toby Sealey identify him as the man on the right in the picture above. Sealey recently became the chief of the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department in Calvert County, Maryland. This picture and others were first published on Wednesday by stmarystoday.com.
Sealey told STATter 911 on Wednesday the pictures were taken at Anthony’s Bar & Grill in Dunkirk. When asked, Sealey declined to say if he was in the photos. Chief Sealey did say that the pictures were not taken at a fire department function. He described it as a private party held at Anthony’s.
STATter 911 was contacted by Cassie Herchenroeder, who until Thursday had been a bartender at Anthony’s. Herchenroeder was fired by the bar because of the publicity over the pictures. She was apparently on duty the night this occurred, but does not recall anyone exposing themselves. Herchenroeder told 9NEWS NOW reporter Nancy Yamada the pictures were taken on December 16.
Herchenroeder and Anthony’s manager Dawn Smith dispute that the pictures were from a private function. They both say the bar was open to all customers.
In two of the photos, the person who has their pants down is wearing a sweatshirt with a DC Fire & EMS Department logo. A woman in that picture is wearing a t-shirt with the same insignia. DC officials say an internal affairs investigation has been started.
Volunteer Chief Sealey is a career firefighter assigned to Engine 30 in Northeast Washington. The picture below is of Sealey and comes from Engine 30′s website.
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Because of a stupid drunk firefighter a woman has lost her job. Way to go Dunkirk VFD. I bet you aren't going to pay her bills until she finds a new job. Way to represent the Fire Service.
Hey, let's try to be fair. She lost her job because of several stupid, drunk firefighters.
you gotta maintain crew integrity…
sort of…
The fire service is notorious for this and far worse behavior.People should pay better attention.
Pornography, drinking and unsupervised kids run the volunteer system.When they do happen to be supervised the behavior is condoned by the over grown children who are supposed to be watching them.
People who think having "paid" crews are any better are mistaken. The ones who run the volunteer departments are the professional firefighters. If the public ever REALLY knew what happens in the paid and volunteer system……………………..
It's not the fault of the VFD that someone got silly. It's the Bar's decision that they didn't like the publicity and they took it out on her. Blame the bar because they took her job away and are probably raking in the moola from the publicity.
That guy looks like he is barely old enough to drink let alone be a volunteer chief. Just goes to show you that the fire service is filled with teenagers today that masquerade as mature, responsible adults. They had better learn when they put on a badge or take an oath, you are held to a higher standard of conduct than most people so you better make sure if you act like an ass in public, you better be prepared to pay the consequences whether you are on duty or not.
You said it yourselves in your 9 news report that the information came from a TABLOID. #1 Consider your source. #2 Would you have this all over the news/internet if these were some college kids. Just because they are Volunteer Firefighters you had to blow this all out of proportion… Thanks for making us all look like crap as usual! STATter YOU SUCK!
I do have to admit getting naked in public isn't necessarily the best image to portray as a volunteer or professional firefighter. However, what people do in their personal time should in no way reflect their ability to perform their job when the time comes. I mean the president elect admitted to a history of marijuana and cocaine use, will this impact his ability to lead? I
Now, who you gonna believe…your lying eyes that saw the pictures of the volunteer chief waving his willie, or the volunteer chief who says "that's not me!"
These are fine upstanding members of the community who risk their lives everyday to make sure that our comm…..sorry I though I could make it all the way through the statement without throwing up in my mouth a little bit.
I don't care if you are a Vol. chief, a plumber, a cop or a priest. I don't care if you were drunk or sober…There is no excuse for dropping your pants and waving your penis in public. Period. Where I come from, we call people who behave like this degenerates and perverts. Frankly, I don't want a degenerate pervert in my house, even if it is on fire.
Those of you willing to brush this off as "boys will be boys" really need to reassess your own moral pinnings.
This is not how professionals act in public.
Wait a minute. The chief is a Volly but the last paragraph states " Volunteer Chief Sealey is a career firefighter assigned to Engine 30 in Northeast Washington. The picture below is of Sealey and comes from Engine 30's website."
Is this person a two hatter? If so also representing the IAFF (local 36), he should pay the price according to IAFF rules.
As a firefighter,all I can do is shake my head.
Typical volunteer hijinks! Paid PROFESSIONALS wouldn't do that. Was ricky riley there?
Unfortunately this story is now totally out of control. The "first" firefighter to do something stupid at a bar…… has caused the D.C. FD IA to do some time wasting work and a poor woman to loose her job (still not sure why).
None of us know the story on how he became the chief of a volly department. My guess is that he is the only one over 25 that has any certifications (and he is a paid DC FF which makes him the most experienced as well). I thought the only requirement to be a chief in NC was your dad was chief and you lived within 400 yards of the station. If you are the chief and taking sprinklers, for the second time, next to junior FF's then someone needs to look hard at how and why that person is in charge!! Really glad I am in VA Beach now and don't need to see that side of the vol system for a while.
I am not disputing that Chief Sealey was out of line by exposing himself and in fact he should be disciplining his members for doing something like this not being the star of the show. But the fact that we are castrating the chief for dropping his pants off duty in a bar (the fact he was wearing a FD shirt is what really seals the deal for him) while we have tons of FF's out there doing stuff a lot worse is sad. I believe he needs to step down as chief, receive a reprimand at his career job, and send an apology to the citizens of his first due, the DCFD, and the bar, and bartender, that he has caused a ton of headaches. Sorry Chief, you screwed up, hopefully you do not lose your life over it. But no reason for any more energy to be spent on this, he must be a "little" embarrassed already!!
Code of conduct violation and it could possibly be a criminal (exposure in public) violation. Lawyer-up boys as you will soon be examples of the “non-tolerance” attitude that is becoming increasingly pervasive.
Typical volunteer hijinks! Paid PROFESSIONALS wouldn't do that. Was ricky riley there?
—umm slick, clearly your post implies that you are in fact a paid person. A professional in your words. im also pretty sure you're an idiot because that big ol' picture from DCFD E30 yea hint hint thats a PAID dept. ofcourse a professional would NEVER do that!….on the other hand if you are being sarcastic haha funny
Come on Dave is this story really worth all the attention that you are giving it? This is definately not why I look to your site.
Chief sorry but your a dumbass for for doing something stupid and then allowing pictures to be taken.
This unfortunately is behavior that happens every where with in the public service community, Do not think cops are any better but they are smarter then to wear shirts identifying them as such while engaged in this behavoir. After everything that all these agencies see and are involved in they do need to blow off steam sometimes and be able to release pressure or we all know they will blow.
A word to the wise do not wear fire department clothing out in public when acting stupid and if you do then do not be surprised when things like this show up in public, because as you can see they will.
This is not a volunteer vs career issue because as you can see this is vast in both sides and if you think any different then you are a even bigger idiot. You need to look no further then Montgomery County recently for proof.
I agree what you do in your off duty time is your own business and should not interfer in doing your job and if it does, there is the door take a hike!!
Chief you will get whatever comes your way because of stupidity.
Dave if I want to read tabloids I will go to another site or the grocery store.
For the fool that keeps asking if Ricky Riley was there, what the hell does he have to do with this? Obviously you are jealous of someone and there abilities. Get over it
I agree with that guy. This story is a waste of time, Sealy is an idiot, end of story! Whatever he gets is his problem and he brought it on himself, by his own actions. There are far more important stories pertaining to the fire service that we can discuss and read about than this bag of trash. let's all move on. Dave I thought you were a reporter not the papparazzi. Be professional, report some real news!
The bartender is the one I feel for. She may have had no clue this was even happening if it was a busy night. Maybe she should get a lawyer and begin the "proccess" of taking "ownership" of the bar. As far as the actions of the individuals involved…I could care less what any firefighter does off duty as long as he/she acts accordingly and professionally on duty. Drinking is legal and everyone is entitled to time off duty to do as he/she sees fit. If he misrepresented the DCFD with the logo on then thats between him and the dept. I also take issue with the individual who has access to what goes on the dept.s website. If he/she was concerned for the good of the dept., why did it show up on the web to begin with? As far as him stepping down goes…how many of you are willing to give up your career or feel you should for something stupid you did way back when? Now, if you want to show me a picture of him drunk or exposing himself in the firehouse or on an incident scene…
Glad to see in these pictures his junk is in a bigger box than the previous pictures.
Wow its funny to read all the comments from the sainthood of the fire department. I dont know these people nor do i care to know them. Whether you like this man's behavior or not, it should have no bearing on where he works. Because he had a DCFD shirt on how does this become a concern of theres. More money being wasted by internal affairs for something that happened in Calvert County. Please tell me how this person who dropped trout affected your life the citizens of the District of Columbia or the citizens of Calvert.
Did you ever call this guy out in public when you saw him at his volunteer firehouse or his place of work. Probably not. This comment section just gives you an oppurtunity to act like a fire dept saint and ridicule what he did. It was mentioned before that if you wanted to demean what he did and make something out of nothing because they want career fireman in calvert, then go to the IAFF MDA Softball Tourney and you will think Mr. Sealy is an angel.
If this was so serious at the time and this person who dropped his drawers did something criminal, why didnt someone at this bar call the police.
The bartender is being used as a scapegoat for the publicity drawn to this bar. If she was smart she would file a discrimination charge with the EEOC.
One would ask Mr. Rossignol if he was trapped in his car or had trouble breathing, would it be ok if Mr. Sealy and his dept. help him or would he rather wait for a career fireman to help him because all career fireman act like responsible adults. Roll eyes…..Good luck hypocrites and keep representing the sainthood of the fire service.
And by the way i am a career fireman and i like to show my mangina too……
Oh and by the way…When was it illegal to pull your pants down and show your red box??????????
I hope the public doe's not Jude all Professional and Volunteer fire figthers because of this. Instead of Bashing each other, we need to stop running our mouths and let this drop and get on with life. Or we are "NO"better then Sealey. One Professional to a nother and we are not angels.
I'm just wondering when NDW and Prince George's County fire department's are going to start their investigations. I can name 2 NDW and 2 PG Career firefighters in those pictures.
I will agree with the post above, this is nothing compared to the MDA Weekend. But then again Dave would never post about anything about the MDA event, it involveds career FF's and his buddy Brady.
Hey Dave,
Aren't you going to tie Kentland into this story somehow so you can boost the ratings? I mean come on, this has to be Kentland's fault somehow.
Anytime something bad happens in the fire service anywhere world wide, it's Kentland's fault.
Please show me one firehouse career or volunteer that hasn't done something this stupid?
Sorry Chief,no excuse for what you and others did. In today's society you know things like this show up on the web,like it or not!!!!
Going out in public with FD
shirts on makes everyone both volunteers and career personal look bad. Others downtown have lose there jobs due to stupidity, so should you. I don't feel you have shown the professionalism to be a chief. This behavior not just by you but others who have allowed this to go on for years make the ones who want to represent the fire service look awful, and makes a bad memory to the public of us. I feel bad for the bartender who lost her job because of these idiots. I hope she goes after them for damages.
To Stater 911- I wish more important FD news were reported. Like why 1st responders all over this country can't get proper care/benefits after getting hurt.
As both a Volunteer and Paid Firefighter what I do know is that right or wrong both paid and professional firefighters do the job and do it well.
We can't judge all on the actions of a few.
However, I am very embarrassed to say that this incident is tame in comparision to the other things that go on. It happens in the paid stations and the volunteer houses. As a young buck I thought it was funny at the time. Now, I am not so young and know much better and have to place the blame on the fact that we brush it off as boys being boys when in fact our way of blowing off steam as it was noted is to act like fools who take it too far.
Dave, I called the "Higher Ups" at Channel 9 and we all agreed that if you do not start reporting and blogging stories that everyone likes they will pull the plug on your blog. You knew it was bound to happen, now lets get back to how many hydrants are out of service in D.C. LOL!
The St. Mary's Today newspaper editor is a crock of ****… Especially talking about the wrecks of Squad 7 and Squad 3 last year….. I visit Dunkirk's website http://www.dunkirk5.com almost everyday when they were actually updating it, and never saw any provacative photos of their members on their except the occasional beer in hand photos. Whoever took the photos of the Chief must be a jealous person of him, and must be a friend of the editor of SMT. Yes he shouldn't have been exposing himself, but he is actually a pretty nice person if you get to know him. He will do anything for anyone who is in need of help and so would the rest of his family and members at Dunkirk. I know some of the guys there, and really would not think that they would put these type of pictures on their website. And also has anything thought that the owner of the site… http://www.firecompanies.com, may have shut the site down themselves and not Dunkirk…. This story has blown up thanks to this website and St. Mary's Today, my best advice for the editor is stay in St. Mary's and leave Calvert, Charles, PG and all of Maryland out of your news!
Toby works 30 engine along side a kentland volunteer on truck 17. So youre right its kentlands fault!!!!!!
Its a good thing I saw this. I was thinking of robbing a bank wearing my DCFD tshirt, But now I know I'd get in trouble for wearing it, I might wear my big johnson shirt instead.
That way I won't get in any trouble.
I mean ok firefighters are held to a higher standard blah blah blah.
Does this make him or the other men and women of Dunkirk any less capable of providing fire/ems services to the community? No
So if this idiot was not wearing a FD tshirt no one would have ever know he did it, yet he is still a firefighter. Nor would they have cared about a drunk guy dropping Trow at a bar and waving Mr. Winky to a camera.
But since he was wearing a FD Tshirt hells bells. Holy crap. Lets stop the presses… Good thing Israel invaded Gaza and Obama is in town or this would have been the top story! WTF?
Doesn't WUSA 9 know its going to SNOW yeah SNOW SNOW SNOW Tomorrow!
Holy Crap!
Snow…
but a firefighter is wearing a tshirt with his d!ck hanging out. That says something when the SNOW takes a back seat to ANYTHING.
Happy Friday! Be Safe and Wear a Condom.
you know everyone needs to take a step back and relize none of these pictures were taken on the firehouse grounds and none were wen any of the firefighters were on duty so you meant o tell me that any professional cant go out and drink and do something dumb every once in a while come on grow up all everyone wants to do is run there motuh about stuff they know nothing about for a story thats it people dont se the ard work and effort and the hours of voulenteer service that goes into it walk in a firefighters shoes for a week then maybe people wouldnt be so critical and wouldnt look at all the negitive i dont see the public running into a burning building saving lives and trying to protect properity like i do these men and women in the fire service so everyone needs to just grow up and as far as the website why dont they get off chief sealey and look back to who was operating the website before chief sealy was elected into office
Actually, the story does have shades of kentland. Didn't Tony try the "I wasn't there" defense when Jerry was shooting rectal fireworks
Nobody could ever be jealous of ricky riley. You'd have to be a fool to worship him…..
Things obviously got a little out of hand, but I wonder how many times this man has put his life on the line for other people. The public only wants to gripe when something is wrong. The woman should not have lost her job, but it's not like she was making a million bucks there anyways. I think this guy should be reprimanded, but not fired.
For the joker who suggested that Local 36 hand out DCFD sweatshirts to all of the unemployed, homeless alcoholics that roam our streets, sorry to burst your bubble, but most volunteer stations in the area have already instituted a similar program.
The only difference is that instead of calling them "bums", they prefer to use the more politically-correct term "live-in members".
People are dying daily in this world from various causes.. More importantly Toby Sealy showed his Mangina and the whole world has been greatly impacted.
So far the Israeli Prime Minister or the PLO have no comment until they review the mangina incident.
Commanders from the war in Iraq have called on a 2 day cease fire to catch up on the Dunkirk VFD incident.
President elect Obama has declared the airspace over Dunkirk, MD be restricted.
Breaking news….Fire/Ems service in the Dunkirk, MD area hasnt been affected by the notorius mangina incident. Stay tuned for more on this national crisis.
If the guy eating at the table next to you in a restaurant stood up and waved around his penis, you would want him arrested for indecent exposure.
Now imagine he's a firefighter.
Free Pee-wee Herman.
Dave You usually post really good stuff, but why the dirt ? Would you like someone digging up your skeletons and posting them on the web ?? We all do things that we are not proud of, but that is part of life. I really think you need to just make this all go away. You have put the brother through enough hell.
From the comments here and elsewhere, it appears that one or more volunteers in Dunkirk has a pathalogical and potentially unhealthy obsession with the term "mangina" and repeatedly talking about how much joy it brings this person to expose his to other people. Between Statter911, the watchdesk and WUSA9 alone, the term appears over a dozen times.
This alone seems to me to be pretty wierd and somewhat abnormal behavior for a firefighter. It leads me to believe that maybe there is more to the public indecency than previously assumed!
Does the local government impose any psychological testing of volunteers? Considering that there are teens who have unsupervised contact with these individuals at the station, and often there is a potential for interaction with children, maybe there should be.
The bartender did not lose her job becaus of what the firefighters were doing. She lost her job becacuse she was not doing the job she was responsible for – bartending. She claims to have been responsible for waitressing, bartending & cooking. At no time are the bartenders supposed to be cooking. There is a paid cook intil 10 pm once the kitchen was closed she had no right to be cooking. She should have been behing the bar tending to customers, had she been she would have been aware of what happened and could she or would she have been responsible for stopping it no, but she could have reported it to the owners. A bartender is responsible for being aware of what is going on on her shift & she wasn't.
I love the fact that Ricky Riley relocated to Clearwater and his name still comes up in discussion. A true living legend, right up there with the Ed Smith's and the Lehan's. Riley is one of the best firefighters and command officers God has ever put on this earth. God Bless KENTLAND !
Ricky Riley Command officer???? Thats why he couldnn't make it past Firefighter in Fairfax. Then he would have had to take a test and show how much BS he was full of. Only a command officer by a popularity contest.Gimmee a break!!
You DCFDEMS guys are the laughing stock of the Fire Service. Maybe they can change your department name to "Rubin's Playground and Daycare Center" DCFD must have a real lack of leadership and control. There should be no tolerance for this type of behavior. The kentland episodes should have opened your eyes, fights on the fire grounds, illegal drugs, illegal firewoks. When is it going to end.
Dunkirk VFD "Balls Deep in Your Box" as the t-shirt says. Im sure your community loves you guys. Maybe Calvert County Government should step in and hire paid staff to run your station. It would be an appropriate punishment for you.
The IAFF should investigate your entire station, the majority of your membership are two hatters.
Once again, an example of the "ME" generation running the Fire Service (in to the ground that is.) To those who STILL just don't get it, the connection with DCFEMS, whether he was wearing the T-Shirt or not, is called CONDUCT UNBECOMING. To those who make some connection to the MD Tournament in PG County, go there this year, take your camera and take some pictures! If this kind of behavior is happening then it should be dealt with ALSO!
As far as investigation from PG or NDW, were those guys shaking Mr. Winkie in public also? If not, they are only guilty of being stupid and having poor judgement in who they hang out with. That will probably catch up with them eventually.
To those that give the lame excuse that "everyone else does it," let me say to you what you should have already heard…if they jumped off a bridge, would you have to do it too???
The interviews with the public (you remember them, right? They are the ones whose trust was trampled) was troubling. Thanks for the HUGE black eye on the Fire Service. Sad but, this guy is probably still running calls and still holding rank at Dunkirk.
im not sure why everyone is giving this so much attenton atleast he has the balls to go in and save someones family whent there house is on fire or when there is a accident leave the poor guy alone everyon needs to blow off steem now and then and why fire the bartender she is pretty much defensless in this matter she should have had some back up at the bar and maybe all this would have never happen get over your selfs and dont act like you have never done something dumb or even thought about it who cares what others do as long as ur not hurt in whatever is going on move on with ur life and let this man move on with his some people should just get a grip on reality it is 2009 not 1909
WOW!…That was the longest sentence I have ever read. I guess the school systems are as messed up as the Fire Department, huh?
Ricky Riley is still the best !
Someone is salty that they didn't get voted in as Chief, so they dig up any kind of dirt they can to make the new Chief look bad. All you really did was give the Fire Department a bad rap and got one person, possibly two fired from their jobs. Good Job! LOOSER.
FREE NICK MARTIN!!
Jerry Engle would have gotten away with this.
I know Chief Toby Sealy, and I have known him since he was 18. I don't claim to be his best buddy, or even close to him anymore, but I feel I know him well enough to comment.
And here it is: Toby is a goofball. Plain and simple. He likes to have fun and he's pretty fun to be around. You just have to know how to take him.
Aside from that, he is a very intelligent person. Attend a drill at Dunkirk and you will see that he has extensive knowledge of firefighting procedures, and he is very good about training the younger members to avoid dangerous situations from happening, as well as how to react to them when they are unavoidable.
Chief Sealy's bravery and intelligence as a fireman is almost unparalleled. He will NEVER leave someone in a dangerous situation- if you go in with Toby, YOU WILL GO OUT WITH TOBY. (Unless you wimp out and run out first.) He will die himself rather than leave someone.
Toby's first priority on a fireground is safety, and a very close second is completing the job and preserving property quickly and safely. (Parenthetically, he is not "a kid" by any stretch of the imagination. He is almost 30.)
Was it probably a stupid idea to act like this? Sure. The man was excited to be elected chief, and he got a little carried away. Yes, the bar was "open" but let's be real- nobody was in there but them. And these pictures were not posted on their website- someone from the inside obviously leaked them to the press.
The bottom line is that, while his exposing himself was probably not necessary, and perhaps even stupid, this persecution of him is what philosophers call a fallacy- an "argument against the person." In essence, using this one incident to judge him as a firefighter, or even as a person, is just wrong.
There is a valid argument that this affects public perception of firefighters as a whole, and especially as the volunteer system relies heavily on citizen donations, that is something Toby should keep in mind in the future- whether or not pictures are taken or leaked, he should be cognizant that while wearing FD apparel, his actions reflect on his department and all firefighters.
The bartender's firing was, as one reader pointed out, a result of her "allowing" the situation to get out of hand. MD is an "at will" employment state, so I highly doubt she has any grounds to "go after the bar," as some have suggested. It's unfortunate, but maybe she should have cut them off or called in someone to assist her with the unexpected amount of people on a Tuesday night. That is a decision by bar management.
As for his behavior, I think we are throwing stones, here. Who among us has never gotten a tad too drunk and said or done something they regretted? Maybe not with cameras around, but celebrating a wedding? Divorce? Graduation? Promotion? Or even just a random Saturday? I am sure that most people criticizing him have at least one such memory.
I have been out of the fire service for years, but heard this commotion. I rarely see Toby or his Dunkirk friends anymore. I have kids and a house and a 9 to 5 which take up all my time. I'm not a big drinker or anything so I don't really associate with them. HOWEVER, regardless of anything stupid they do at a bar while off duty, I am PROUD and RELIEVED to know that, should my house catch fire and (god forbid) me and my children be caught in it, that TOBY SEALY WILL GET US OUT or DIE TRYING. And it's not because he knows me- it's because THAT IS WHO HE IS.
At the end of the day, isn't that what's important?
this story has gotten way out of control. I don't care where you work, if your a professional or not, You should not be acting like this in public. I really don't care if you are drunk or sober Mr. winky does not need to be flapping in the breeze. Toby I went to school with you, you doing this is no surprise. You do a lot of stupid things when your drunk. I think you should maybe take a hard look at yourself and actually take control of yourself when you are drinking. You are very nice person and have saved many lives, but that does not mean that you need to get wasted every time you go out (which is alot). Grow up and start taking responsability for your actions.