Well, maybe the guy who tried to drive the fire engine home for Christmas isn’t so bad. Read this tale from Florida.
Station 46 from FortLauderdale.gov
It happened last February, but the South Florida Sun-Sentinel just got the details of this story from Fort Lauderdale. Here is the beginning of Brittany Wallman’s story:
Two off-duty Fort Lauderdale firefighters who were in a hit-and-run accident in Pompano Beach after drinking beer at local bars got a ride home in the most expensive taxi in town: their city’s fire Engine 46.
In records obtained last week by the Sun Sentinel, the events of Feb. 21, 2008, are detailed: Three on-duty Fort Lauderdale firefighters took the city’s busiest fire engine — worth $400,000 — out of service, drove it out of the city, picked up the two firefighters and gave them a ride to a colleague’s house in Coral Springs.Fire officials said the move “compromised the safety of the public” by taking a crucial fire engine out of service, and “violated the public trust” by misusing public funds.
“Those resources are there for one reason, and that’s to protect the citizens that we serve,” Fire Chief James Eddy said during the investigative interviews, adding that the fire engine was used as a personal “taxi” for the pair, traveling through six cities.
Eddy fired one of the firefighters and suspended two supervisors.
