Free Press photo by Boris Minkevich
The firefighter posing for a cell phone picture in front of a burning Winnipeg house has written to the paper that published the picture. The firefighter who asked that his name not be used wrote to the Winnipeg Free Press, ”The reason I wanted the photo was I wanted a picture that I could give my six-year-old son. The reason for this is personal and I don’t want it to be an excuse for my poor judgment.”
Previously Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Deputy Chief Ken Sim said while firefighters are provided with cameras for evidence documentation the camera used was not issued by the department. An invetsigation is underway.
Here are excerpts from an article by Matt Preprost:
The house on fire was vacant and derelict, “used for storage and was filled entirely with stuff,” the firefighter wrote. He explained the two were waiting for an aerial ladder to arrive to attack the fire from above.
“Our attack line was taken by other crew members to cover exposures and we staged at the sidewalk waiting to be retasked when conditions permitted,” he wrote. “At that point in time I asked the fellow firefighter to quickly take my picture with my cellphone. Once the roof was burnt off, the fellow firefighter and myself were tasked to take a line and begin extinguishing the flames from the front of the house along with the other crew members and the aerial ladder.”
The firefighter deemed the photo op an “innocent” mistake. “At the time I deemed the picture to be innocent since there were no life safety issues at hand and we were without a task,” he said.
Also on STATter911 …
- What looks like an innocent picture of the picture takers, causes lots of controversy. Firefighters posing for cell phone photo at Winnipeg house fire is under investigation. – December 5, 2009
- Quick Takes – December 10, 2009
- Weekend Roundup. – December 7, 2009
- Driven to distraction: Driver on cell phone passes stopped vehicle and hits responding Christiana, Delaware ladder truck. Also, a bonus video from the area. – November 4, 2009
Give the guy a “pass.”
+ 1 = pass. if there was a life safety instance or any other victim possibility, I’m sure his butt would have been inside searching.
people need to calm down its not like there was anyone trapped and like he said it was abandoned. people to shut up stay behind the yellow tape and watch and keep their opinions to themselves. as for the firefighter keep fighting fires and dont let these idiots get to u
any one who complains is an ass..tell me one brother that does not have a picture of them self in front of something burning..
I don’t have 1 picture of me infront ,behind,inside, or around something burning. And his pathetic lie reminds me of …well something a 6 year old would concoct.
Hey now maybe he can give his poor 6 year old son a hamburger happy meal that he just cooked at McDonalds as their newest employee. Eh?
We know no one was trapped AFTER the photo was taken. Eh?
No abandon homes house vagrants and the indigent…eh?
Again with Dave Stater trying to stir up crap about pictures and videos. Give it a break Dave. Everyone does it. Stick to being a reporter, you’re no firefighter.
No John Holmes only pompous unprofessional firefighters have their pictures taken in front of real fires. And I’m a firefighter. Ya know ,years ago they woulda been arguing about the idiot taking a belt off a flask…no big deal right Johnny?
Just goes to prove that we can no longer do anything without the public eye on us. People need to get either a life or a new hobby, one that does not entail stalking emergency responders of their doings.
Sorry Ho chi woman, I’M a FF too. Career. We do it ALL THE TIME on vacant structures. Always will. Got a hell of a scrap book too! Luv ya!
Capt. 12″ Holmes
I was one of the ones who thought this guy was stupid, and I still do. A picture is worth a thousand words, and the reality is that this image will be burned in many more brains than the follow-up story.
I compliment Mr. Statter for having the intestinal fortitude to publish the follow-up, because that smacks of real reporting. A guy who is only interested in the most sensational story would have not given the firefighter’s version.
We need to be aware that in this digital era, we should be acting as though the white hats are always present, and ask ourselves if we want to explain why the images show what they do.
I make mistakes and I am human. But this old dog is trying to learn new tricks, and one of them is to imagine that I am always being recorded.
I must say that anyone who tries to justify this guy’s actions is an idiot and probably isn’t much of a fireman. If you want to take pictures, do it after you do your JOB or become a Buff.
Vacant structure or not there are still tasks that need to be done. That building is not fully involved and there could very well be a person inside, whether it be a vagrant, a robbery victim or kids that were messing around. I’ve seen it happen.
We don’t have to many pics of the big fires at my house because we do our job and put them out.
John Holmes your name says it all. You sound like a big d*** who doesn’t have a clue.
On the force for 30 years. I guess I don’t see the importance of standing in front of a burning structure. Are they impressing someone? Why not just stand in front of a Firetruck and a fellow firefighter and be proud of that?