Brimfield Fire Department
Holland Fire Department
In Hampden County, Massachusetts, five call firefighters were arrested last night. They have been charged wih fires in vacant buildings in Brimfield and Holland. All five entered pleas of not guilty.
Here are excerpts from Boston.com:
No one was hurt in the three fires in June and July, but the alleged actions of the five young men drew denunciations from their chiefs, State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Hampden District Attorney William M. Bennett said today.
“The conduct of these defendants is outrageous,” Bennett said in a statement today. “Their callous disregard for the safety of the community and the safety of the dedicated firefighters who had to respond to the scene of the fires is shocking. It is a very sad day when people pledged to serve the public become a serious danger to the public.”
Robert McCarthy, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, the union which represents 12,000 career firefighters in the state — not call firefighters — had harsh words for the accused men.
“I’m shocked. It’s tragic,” he said in a telephone interview. “As far as I’m concerned, they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fire Services, said the firefighters did help put out the three fires but she could not say whether the men started the fires so they could get paid.
“A firefighter accused of deliberately setting fires betrays the public’s trust and destroys the credibility of the fire service,” state Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said in a statement. “It is also a betrayal of the trust firefighters need to place in one another to see that everyone goes home at the end of the day.”
Charged with burning of a building are:
- Patrick K. Elliott, 19, of 12 Power Station Road, Charlton, a call firefighter with the Brimfield Fire Department.
- Brian S. Findlay, 18, of 85 Armatage Road, Ashford, Conn., a call firefighter with the Brimfield and Holland fire departments.
- Jordan R. Frank, 18, of 19 Cross St., West Brookfield, a call firefighter with the Brimfield Fire Department.
- Dylan J. Lajeunesse, 18, of 21 Union Road, Holland, a call firefighter with the Holland Fire Department.
- Donald C. Moores, 20, of 3 Forest Drive, Brimfield, a call firefighter with the Brimfield and Holland fire departments.
Holland Fire Chief Paul Foster said: “Unfortunately the actions of these five young men gives the entire fire service a black eye, which is unfair to the decent, honest members of the Holland and Brimfield Fire Departments who volunteer their time away from their families to properly train and respond to emergencies to protect their neighbors at all hours of the day or night.”
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Comments
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TICKS!
Young punks giving us old Jakes a bad name. They deserve to rot in jail.
It is a shameful disgrace when young Firefighters cannot seem to fully realize the importance of Listening and learning the very Basic Body of knowledge which the Fire and EMS Service is
founded. 18 and 19 year old people are at a good age to learn the actual Firefighting Techniques required. These individuals
have without question brought shame and embarrassment to everyone in the Fire and EMS Service. The Taxpayers they are supposed to be serving are the what one could say are the victims. One can only hope the Judicial System will see fit to
exercise maximum punishment to send a message to anyone who has
callous disregard for Life and property. As far as the comment “Ticks” that is totally outof line and uncalled for. It obviously comes from someone who supports and even worships the IAFF. The comments from the President of the Local IAFF is again out of line and stereo type of Volunteers. The Truth be known the 21st Century Fire and EMS Service is set forth with
“Safety” Everyone goes home. The Fire and EMS service is professional some people are Paid Career and some people are Volunteers. Speaking for myself, I would remind those juvenile mentality attitudes that” Ticks as the term was commented just
pay pull you out of a Burning Structure. This same applies to Volunteers who speak with vile ignorance against Career personnel as “Paid Maids”. Come on people get it together. Stereo Type Attitudes and vile ignorant remarks serves no one with any degree of Professional Public Safety.
Thank You
Guys that call themselves “Old Jakes” are old punks, grow up and get a life ya whoop!