Old video comes back to haunt Kentland

While we try to keep on top of everything Kentland, this story isn’t ours. Channel 7 first mentioned it Wednesday night, but Channel 5 has the goods.

It is a video that Kentland officials claim is four or five years old. What you see in the video may not be shocking to firefighters who have been around for a while, but it is likely going to be another public relations nightmare for Kentland VFD and the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department.

It shows firefighters, including Tony Kelleher, the current Kentland chief, shooting fireworks off inside the firehouse. Fireworks are illegal in Prince George’s County. One segment shows fireworks being ignited from a persons back side.

In another segment, a person described as a new member looks like he is on the receiving end of an atomic wedgie. There are allegations of hazing involved with this.

An EMS call comes in while the video is rolling and it appears from what you are able to see that no one is immediately responding to the call.

Kentland VFD made news last year in its long battle with Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Lawrence Sedgwick over operating an ambulance out of Station 833. At one point during the dispute the Kentland volunteers were essentially limited to responses in their first due area.

In the end, Chief Sedgwick was overruled as Kentland dealt directly with Public Safety Director Vernon Herron. The deal put Ambulance 833 in service, but staffed by career personnel and not Kentland’s volunteers.

In February, 2006 another video brought attention to Kentland. It showed one of its volunteers in a physical altercation with a firefighter from another company during a house fire. Allegations made against Kentland firefighters during that blaze are apparently still the basis for civil action against the department and some of its members.

Sources tell STATter 911, the fireworks video, and descriptions of how Kentland has operated from a book by one of its former members, are likely to be used by other firefighters who have filed lawsuits.