Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, a Facebook page devoted to Detroit fire incidents posted a photo of a crew of firefighters posing in front of a house engulfed in flames. The photo has since been taken down, but the city’s fire commissioner is now investigating the controversial photo.
The Facebook page, Detroit Fire Incidents, posted the photo with the caption "Crews take a moment to get a selfie on New Year's!" The photo was removed by late Wednesday morning, after many questioned the photo and the Facebook administrators of the page "received messages by guys on the job stating that they had been threatened For the photo being posted."
The post also stated a City of Detroit firefighter asked Detroit Fire Incidents to post the image. Facebook users commented that the image was “distasteful” and “insensitive.”
Joshua Van Berkum commented: “Been following for a long time. Saw the photo last night, and my first reaction was that it was in bad taste. You wouldn’t want to see a bunch of ER doctors posing for a selfie in front of a flatlined patient they “couldn’t save anyway.” Just unprofessional. Love the page, but that post was insensitive.”
A local reporter later posted a side-by-side image of the firefighter photo and the results of the burning edifice, which was unoccupied.
Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones told CBS News he was investigating the photo, and, if it was verified, there would be cause to discipline the crew members.
“There are a lot of ways to celebrate a retirement. Taking a photo in front of a building fire is not one of them,” he told the news station.
In statement to the Detroit News, Jones added that 99% of the “men and women” who fight fires know how to appropriately handle the issue.
“Behind every fire is a devastated family or property owner.”
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