Raw video: House fire in Orange, NJ. No firefighters on this fireground, just ‘responders’ & ‘responding rescue units’.
Video by REDVIDEO1 of a house fire on April 14 at 198 Hickory Street in Orange, New Jersey. It appears the firefighters are pulled out at around 4:45.
Did I say “firefighters”?
Excuse me, I apologize. I have been out of the news business for almost three years and I am showing what a dinosaur I really am. Below, check out the headline about this fire on the website of News 12 New Jersey. Just another example that the word “firefighter” is so 20th Century. Urban Firefighter Magazine’s Ray McCormack warned us of this slippery “first responder” slope (check here & here).
The word “firefighter” is never mentioned in the article about the Hickory Street fire. Not once. Instead it says, “It was quickly controlled by responding rescue units.”
Let me make sure I have this right. All these “massive” fires the news media warns us about these days are apparently extiguished by “responders” and “responding rescue units”. I don’t know if I should feel more sorry for firefighters or for the news people who write this junk.
I am sure there will be a tear in my eye the first time I hear a little kid say, “When I grow up, I want to be a responder”. Excuse me. Must go. Dealing with a little reflux right now.
