NY Firefighter Charged With DWI

[RES20CUE 40]

Will "WE" ever learn??????? #-o

New York Firefighter Charged With DWI After Crashing Fire Truck Enroute To Fire

A volunteer firefighter in the Village of Lancaster is charged with DWI after crashing his fire truck on the way to a fire call.

Police say 34 year old Christopher Long was drunk when he slammed head-on into a pickup truck that had pulled over to yield the right of way Sunday night.

The driver of the pickup and a passenger were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Long will appear back in court July 13th.

[COMMANDCHIEF 4]

Take notice!!!

[WAS967 97]

It won't mention names, but while working the other night, we drove by a local fire house. The guys were all hanging out in the front. No problem, except that some were sitting there holding beer bottles. Does this worry anyone other than me? If a call had come in, would they have done the right thing and not gone on the call? (I doubt it). Also, what does the public think when they drive by (and this is on a major road) and see the people who could potentially be comming to rescue them, sucking down bottles of suds. I have nothing against being social, hanging out after a long day or a rough call, and having a few beers with your buds, but the problem is we need to use our heads. Remember what the public thinks us about IS important. Do you want them to see you as the heros in white/blue/red/etc or a bunch of drunks? And for the love of god, respect the one ounce one hour "rule". It might just save your neck from an incident like the above. Some corps I have been in go a step further and say you can't be on duty for 8 hours after consuming any amount of alcohol. Smart move if you ask me.

[RWC130 594]

DWI - FIRE ENGINE.... THAT'S A BIG WHOOPS!

Not only does this make the driver and the department look really bad but us as Volunteer Firefighters. Just take a look at the damage being done to the FDNY Firefighters by the press and they are Off-Duty incidents.

How the public perceives you as a Firefighter and your department

are very important. All to often we lose sight of that.

Not to bash anyone here, We ALL have had our "fun" but when it comes to drinking just use a little common sense.

If you have been drinking DON'T respond, for your own safety and the safety of your brother Firefighters.