Is there more to this story? You be the judge of whether a firefighter should lose his job for helping the injured on a sick day.

Our friend Grant Mishoe at SConFire.com discovered this very interesting story. A Georgetown, South Carolina firefighter says he was forced to resign from his job because he helped out at a crash scene on July 15, a day he called in sick. It wasn’t just any accident. According to news reports the collision involved four teens in Plantersville. One is a 17-year-old boy who is Chris Avant’s neighbor. Avant’s story is his fiancé ran into the house telling him he had to help.

The family of another victim started a petition trying to get Avant back on the job. Georgetown City Fire Chief Joey Tanner and Assistant Chief Bill Johnson say they aren’t providing details and responding to reporters questions because it is a personnel matter.

Avant admits he had been in trouble before but described them all as minor incidents, including backing a fire truck into a stop sign.

So, what do you think? Is this a firing offense? If you do, what if the fiancé had run in saying it wasn’t a neighbor, but their own son or other relative?

The Georgetown Times has more details than the TV story. Here is some of what is known from the July 22 article by Scott Harper: 

Avant said he had been sick for more than a day with the virus but when the accident occurred at around 6 p.m. he was feeling “a little better.”

Callie Pope said her 15-year-old stepson, Shane Pope, was one of the four teens in the vehicle when it flipped four times on a gravel road.

Avant said he heard the call about the accident on his radio but did not immediately respond since he was sick.

However, a few minutes later, his fiancé ran in the house asking him to help because their neighbor, a 17-year-old, was one of the people seriously hurt.

Avant said he knew there could be some problems at work if he responded because he had called in sick, but he also knew his neighbor needed help.

Because of a training class taking place near the Nine Mile Curve between Georgetown and Andrews at the time, it took longer than normal for EMS to arrive.