Red Oak Community Rural Fire Department website
Chief Bryant Beddard and Justin Stargardt (listed in one article as assistant chief) of the Red Oak Community Rural Fire Department in Greenville, North Carolina were arrested and charged with shooting at electric power fixtures and setting fire to a wooded area last Thursday. The men are accused of knocking out two insultators on a transmission line, knocking loose a 115-kilovolt power line that started the fire. Power was lost for about a half-hour to 16,000 customers served by five substations in a fairly large area.
Chief Beddard has also been employed by Greenville Fire-Rescue since 2006.
Red Oak firefighters responded about 4:30 p.m. Thursday to a fire in a wooded area of the Frog Level community, according to Eddie Rabil, the department's board chairman. They discovered that two fixtures were shot and a power feeder line was cut, falling to the ground and sparking a fire, a Red Oak fire official said.
Rabil said the department, with an active 30-40 person roster, didn't know that Beddard and Stargardt were linked to the incident until charges were brought against them. Both men are thought of as responsible individuals, active in providing skilled fire-rescue and leadership to the community, he said.
Red Oak's web site says Stargardt is its assistant fire chief with 5 years experience, while Beddard has been with Red Oak for 9 years.
The fire department's board of directors chairman said in a statement that they are shocked and saddened with the arrests. Eddie Rabil says both men have taken voluntary leave of absences at Red Oak, while "we fully support our firefighters who have been charged in this incident."
The WITN-TV website has more than 150 comments on this story. Click here to read them.
Chief Bryant Beddard on the left and Assistant Chief Justin Stargardt on the right.
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He's Assistant Chief…with 5 years of experience. I know small departments have challenges with recruitment and retention, but really? He looks like he hasn't been out of high school for 5 years, although looks can be deceiving.
I think this sounds like the bad result of some "Premature Promotion": http://elaffhq.com/2011/05/17/premature-promotion/
Lt. Lemon
Lt. Lemon, I agree. Looks can be deceiving but not the # of years on the job. As the fire service you take three steps forward and then something like this happens and you take two steps backwards.
The stupid shall be punished!
9 years experience as a chief and 5 years as an asst chief. Sounds like to me neither of these guys are mature enough to lead a fire dept. Therefore it does not suprise me of the stupid decision they made, way to set an example for the younger guys who look up to you.
That was the first thing that stood out with me as well.
One question Lt, is it OK for a colored helmet to grab the nozzle if no firefighters are around? Otherwise I might be guilty according to your article. lol Seriously, I only grab it if there isn't a FF around (paid on call department, never know who might be there) and do what needs to be done. But I'll gladly push the newbies past their comfort zone.
Mark,
That example was directed at incidents where there are more than enough firefighters available, yet an officer still takes the nozzle.
When you're all alone, it's an entirely different story. Do what you've got to do…
Lt. Lemon
I knew what your answer would be, just funnin' with ya. (little redneck lingo to fit in with the subject at hand)
You can't fix stupid.
The action these 2 individuals took is just plain stupid and immature regardless of whether they were fire fighters or not. The fact that they were command officers only compounds the situation.
They must have run out of mail boxes and road signs to shoot at. Nothing like some good old redneck fun.
"Hey, Bubba, watch this!!"
Fraternity with fire trucks.
5 years and he's an ASSistant Chief? I've been on 12 years and I'm a Driver/Engineer bucking for Captain. I know that small departments have recruiting problems, but, seriously… 5 years? That kid doesn't look old enough to serve me a beer, much less order my crew around!
More "Friends" of Jerry Engle?
On a more serious note, what about the damage they could have caused to those affected by the Power Outage to those on Home Medical Devices requiring Electricity , let alone Hospitals and Convalescent Hospitals?
Make Room Jerry, More "Stupid's" coming your way.