Former East Spencer fire chief Shane Cranfield.

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Thirty-seven-year-old Shane Cranfield, who was a part-time employee of the East Spencer Fire Department in North Carolina, was fired yesterday. In addition, 29-year-old Assistant Chief Allen Carlyle, a former chief of the department, has been told not to return as a volunteer. This comes after the incident last month where police say the men shocked an18-year-old firefighter with a Taser nine times during a fire department Christmas party.

Cranfield and Carlyle are both facing assault charges. A town police officer who allowed his Taser to be used in the incident resigned and is also facing criminal charges. 

Here's more from Karissa Minn at the Salisbury Post:

In a dismissal letter to Cranfield, Town Administrator Macon Sammons Jr. said leaders must serve as role models and set standards. They need “the wisdom, the courage and the judgment” to guide others in the right direction, he said.

“Instead, as our fire chief, you were the ringleader of an incident which created community disdain toward the reputation of our fire department and a major source of embarrassment to the town,” Sammons wrote.

A similar letter to Carlyle is more frank.

“Your behavior in this incident was abusive and totally unacceptable,” Sammons wrote. “Further, we believe that you have become a negative influence within our fire department.”

Former assistant chief and chief Allen Carlyle.

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(UPDATE: It took about 24-hours, but someone has now decided having this video on the web was not such a good idea.)

The video is self-explanatory. What I can't explain is why anyone would post this to YouTube.

Read entire article from Macon.com

Read previous coverage of this story here, here, here, here, here & here

Macon.com's Amy Leigh Womack is once again breaking news on the fake gunman prank uploaded to YouTube at Macon-Bibb County (GA) Fire Department Station 108 that resulted in one firefighter being fired and others being demoted. Reviewing documents received through an Open Records Act request, Womack is reporting that Chief Marvin Riggins initially gave Capt. Stephanie Burke minimal punishment of a two shift suspension despite the report of Capt. Tom Musselwhite investigating the incident that Burke had full knowledge of the prank ahead of time.

In an interview Chief Riggins told Womack, “I trusted my firefighters and my officers to tell me the truth.”

Reading Womack's article you get the indication that in reality Chief Riggins trusted only some of his officers. He believed Capt. Burke, but not Capt. Musselwhite.

Here's Burke's initial account:

In a Sept. 19 written statement, then-Capt. Burke said she had heard talk of firefighters playing a joke on a rookie at her Peake Road station. But when a masked gunman entered the station, she said, she was as surprised as the rookie.

“I ran to get away,” she wrote.

According to the article, Burke wrote she soon realized it was a joke that they were possibly playing on her. She apologized for not taking decisive action but “whatever my punishment is, just know I was not directly involved.”

So, that's what Chief Riggins believed, despite the person in charge of the investigation telling him otherwise. More from Womack:

Fire Capt. Tom Musselwhite wrote in his investigative report, dated Sept. 20, that in his opinion, all the firefighters involved in the prank were knowing participants except for the rookies.

Riggins admitted Wednesday that he didn’t believe Burke was a knowing participant in the hoax when he ordered her to be punished with two days of suspension while other firefighters involved in the video received punishments ranging from longer unpaid suspensions to demotion and termination.

It was only after additional evidence became public, showing a longer video and text messages reported to be from Burke, that the captain was demoted to lieutenant and given a two month suspension. Womack reports Lt. Burke will now be assigned to the Fire Prevention Division.

Read previous coverage of this story here, here, here, here & here

Read Christopher Hughes' text messages about prank via Macon.com

From WMAZ-TV's Bernard O'Donnell:

Macon-Bibb firefighter Christopher Hughes, fired for his part in a videotaped hazing stunt, says he didn't plan the hoax shooting.

He says it was planned by fire Capt. Stephanie Burke, who now faces demotion and loss of 60 days' pay in the viral-video case.

Hughes spoke to 13WMAZ's Amy Aubert Friday afternoon. He said hazing stunts, like the Sept. 25 hoax at Fire Station 108, are not unusual.

He said, when he was a rookie firefighter, he was fooled himself by a similar stunt six years ago. He says that stunt was also planned by Burke.

He says this is one of at least three similar stunts in the department over the years, and no one was ever punished.

Hughes said he lit firecracker after being grabbed by the "gunman".

Hughes says he has text messages from Burke that show she asked him to supply a fake gun for the hoax.

Fire Chief Marvin Riggins says he fired Hughes because he supplied the weapon used in the video.

Hughes says he thinks he's being punished more severely because he's lower in rank than Burke.

On Thursday, mayoral spokesman Clay Murphey said Riggins was told that Burke knew of the stunt in advance, but Burke denied it. In any case, Murphey said, the chief believes Burke should have acted to stop it.

We could not reach Burke for comment. She has until Monday to appeal Riggins' punishment.:

I have long been convinced when it comes to horseplay, mischief and firehouse pranks the firefighters of today don't do much the previous generations didn't do. Probably quite a bit less. But they get a lot more notoriety for it. The reason is many of them ask for the attention by videoing the event and posting it to YouTube. Such is the case with this one that was posted Tuesday evening. If language you are likely to hear in a firehouse offends you, don't watch this one.

Video from dash-cam in the vehicle of King George County Sheriff’s Deputy Timothy Lyons shows the September 20th fire. The video was played at a town hall meeting on Thursday evening.

Charles County, Maryland chiefs respond to allegations

Excerpts from an article by Cathy Dyson at Fredericksburg.com:

While a five-alarm fire blazed in King George County in September, some firefighters danced around and played on a rescue stretcher, gave each other high-fives and rode a pink scooter across the lawn, according to King George Fire and Rescue officials.

“The conduct was atrocious,” said Floyd Allen, the department’s safety officer.

The behavior of the firefighters is one of many problems cited at a town hall meeting last night to discuss the incident.

King George fire officials say they believe the firefighters acting irresponsibly had responded from Maryland. No Maryland firefighters attended the meeting.

Residents raised concerns about why King George has to rely on units from Charles County, Md. They also wondered why King George doesn’t have enough paid and volunteer workers to get trucks out to the scene, and why that incident was so poorly managed.

Fire and Rescue Chief David Moody told more than a dozen people in the audience he had the same concerns they did. He spoke openly–and critically–of the actions of the Maryland firefighters and admitted his own personnel didn’t follow protocol.

“King George folks are at fault, too, absolutely,” said Moody, who wasn’t on the call but has interviewed firefighters and residents. “Most of the people I talked to said it just looked like nobody was in control.”

Shortly after I posted my column yesterday about firefighters getting into trouble with cameras and computers comes word of two more firefighters who have lost their jobs (actually a TV station did the story a week ago, but the paper just reported it). With what police say is a repeat performance by this duo, I am guessing something more than the social media ethics training I suggested may be in order. Read on.

The incident in question occured on October 1 when a High Springs, Florida  firefighter woke up from a nap. Apparently he hadn't secured his personal computer. The firefighter discovered an image on the laptop that disturbed him. The picture showed another firefighter exposing himself while standing over the sleeping firefighter.

Two firefighters involved in the incident have resigned and the victim was nearly tasered as police tried to restrain him during the investigation.

Police told reporter Ronald Dupont Jr. at the North Florida Herald that the two firefighters who resigned were involved in a similar incident earlier this year. In that case, while a firefighter was wrestled to the ground one of the pair exposed himself and the other shot video. WCJB-TV reports the firefighters say they were inspired in their antics by the 2005 comedy "Waiting".

Here are some excerpts from the North Florida Herald article:

According to a High Springs police investigation, firefighter Michael Steele, 28, admitted to standing over the sleeping man and exposing himself while firefighter Kyle Lewis, 26, took a photo with a camera phone.

Lewis told police a similar story and said he uploaded the photo to the victim's computer using a USB cable.

In his interview with police, Lewis said the victim actually pulled a similar prank on Steele months ago, waking Steele up in the process. Steele told police he never remembers being awakened by such a prank and only learned of the alleged prank the next day.

When the victim learned of the accusation against him during his interview with police on Oct. 1, he got angry and left the interview room, looking for Steele and Lewis, according to a report by High Springs Police Officer J.C. Shiller.

Shiller said he tried to stop the victim but the victim actually "carried" the officer through the lobby and out the front door.

"Once outside the front door, I was able to put (the victim) on the ground and prevented him from going after FF Steele and FF Lewis," Shiller wrote in his report. "(Police) Chief (Jim) Troiano and Fire Chief (Verne) Riggall came out and held (the victim) to the ground.

"Chief Troiano then advised me to get my Taser out, in which I did and had pointing to (the victim)," Shiller continued to write in his report. "(The victim) then calmed down, and I re-holstered my Taser."

Previous STATter911.com coverage of this story here & here

WTOP Radio coverage of this story

WTOP Radio talks to Chief Rubin about his future with new administration

WTOP Radio's Neal Augenstein has a follow-up to his story on Tuesday about the off-duty DC firefighter who was photographed in July while cooking breakfast while naked in the kitchen at Engine 11:

Three days after D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said a firefighter photographed naked while cooking eggs in a firehouse had been placed on enforced leave, his spokesman tells WTOP the firefighter has actually never been taken out of active service.

"The chief may have misinterpreted the briefing he had been given," says Pete Piringer, spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS.

WTOP has learned while Rubin was saying the unidentified firefighter was on enforced leave, the employee was actually at work at a Southeast D.C. firehouse.

Rubin was not immediately available to explain the inaccuracy. Piringer said Rubin was involved in meetings and training sessions.

"The chief apparently misinterpreted the briefing he received from the assistant chief of operations, who oversees internal affairs," says Piringer.

During Tuesday's initial interview in Rubin's office, Deputy Chief Kenneth Crosswhite and Piringer were also present.

This is one of those reputation management type of stories that has been seen far and wide. This is from a TV website in Boston.

WTOP initially reported the firefighter had been suspended, which was incorrect. The firefighter's status was corrected after Crosswhite explained the employee was on enforced leave.

Crosswhite tells WTOP he did not learn the firefighter was not on enforced leave until Wednesday. Asked why he or a representative hadn't attempted to correct the reports, Crosswhite said, "I don't know."

Part of the confusion may be because of an ongoing internal affairs investigation. The identity of an employee involved in an investigation is not disclosed in order to protect their right to due process.

Asked if there was another case of a nude cooking firefighter, Piringer answered, "I sure hope not."

In July, the off-duty firefighter, was reportedly cooking eggs in the nude while in a common area after returning from a nearby bar. Earlier, the firefighter attended a retirement party in the firehouse.

Sources say the firefighter was transferred after the incident was reported.

Piringer says the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

 

Previous coverage of this story

WTOP Radio's Neal Augenstein has an update on the off-duty DC firefighter who had his picture taken while he was cooking in the nude at the quarters of Engine 11. DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Dennis Rubin told Augenstein this incident occurred after several off-duty firefighters went to nearby bars following a retirement party at the firehouse on July 7 and then returned to the station for breakfast. Here are excerpts from WTOP's report:

A firefighter photographed cooking eggs naked after a retirement party in a D.C. firehouse has been suspended without pay and is now the subject of a new investigation, WTOP has learned.

"I'm sad to report that the scope of the investigation has broadened significantly," D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said during an exclusive interview in his office.

"The firefighter has been placed on enforced leave — leave without pay."

"The case is substantive against the individual," Rubin says.

Bill Miller, spokesman for the District's U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to discuss whether the case has been referred to prosecutors.

Rubin tells WTOP the internal investigation determined there were no female employees or attendees, but the firefighter's nudity in a common area merited suspension.