Florida Firetruck Chases Robbery Suspects

[x635 4,066]

Interesting story. Would you have done the same?

PLANTATION, FL

Firetruck chases Plantation robbery suspects

Broward Sheriff's Office firefighters saved the day Friday when they chased two robbery suspects who were later arrested.

Posted on Sat, May. 17,

BY ANI MARTINEZ

Fire rescue trucks aren't known for their speed, but Friday afternoon Broward Sheriff's Office firefighters pushed the pedal to the metal.

FULL STORY: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/536845.html

[lad45der 78]

Interesting story. Would you have done the same?

FULL STORY: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/536845.html

If we did that in our dept we would have been fired before we got back to the house. Why would you chase people who you saw have a gun on them in the 1st place. I'm sorry im not paid for that line of work

[20y2 43]

If we did that in our dept we would have been fired before we got back to the house. Why would you chase people who you saw have a gun on them in the 1st place. I'm sorry im not paid for that line of work

Why? Because its the RIGHT (human) thing to do.

[PCFD ENG58 1,085]

BULL! get the plate; call it in GO HOME.

[RWC130 594]

Honestly, I am NOT going to sit here and criticize what they did because

we all make split second decisions.

The fact that they took some kind of action is commendable.

Could things have gone very bad? Absolutely!

Remember, your actions don't always have to be RIGHT

they have to be REASONABLE.

The point here is the Firefighters took action which had a good ending

with TWO SKELLS off the street!

KUDOS to the Broward County Firefighters!

Enough Said!

[gamewell45 258]

If we did that in our dept we would have been fired before we got back to the house. Why would you chase people who you saw have a gun on them in the 1st place. I'm sorry im not paid for that line of work

I concur with you; they had no business doing what they did; they could've gotten themselves or innocent bystanders killed or injured; Its a job best left for the police to handle.

[Bnechis 3,961]

We complain when police officers, without PPE, or training run into a burning building....what makes this any different? Are ff's trained or have PPE for chasing an armed criminal?

Maybe these FF's thought that since the FD is under the sherifs office, they are covered.

[ny10570 745]

How about fire trucks are not exactly designed for pursuit and fire fighters are not well equipped for armed confrontation. Forget the whole my turf is fires their turf is crime bull. How about not getting in over your head. Cops want to bang on doors to let people know the building is on fire, great and good job. fire fighters want to stop a guy getting beat up or call in a description and tags (hell even follow while going cold) thats all well and good. Once you start pursuing armed suspects, chasing them at high speed, or entering a burning apartment to make a grab you are making yourself much more likely to become the next victim rather than save the day. Once a cop gets stuck in a burning building or an engine gets wrecked in an accident all the focus on the original rescue or criminal is lost and our fellow emergency service worker becomes the priority.

[CAM502 6]

While their intent was comendable, I don't think chasing them in the rig with lights and sirens on and weaving through traffic was a good idea. Could have gone bad real quick.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I agree...their actions were commendable. Not the smartest decisions, at least for this time it turned out ok. At a minimum I would have tried to get a plate or solid description, but not chase them down. BNechis excellent points...

The truest "right" thing to do is not put the general public at any additional risk by our actions as well.

[Guest Photounit]

Am I missing something here??????

"Broward Sheriff's Office firefighters saved the day Friday when they chased two robbery suspects who were later arrested."

The way I read this is these FF's were also PO's unless the reporter had it wrong (Nah - Never would happen)...... If so, I guess the only thing you can pick on them for is the fact that they used a fire apparatus and not a police cruiser for the pursuit....... I'd bet the clowns they were after couldn't understand why they were being pursued by a fire engine....

[ny10570 745]

They are fire fighters who work for the sheriffs dept. They are not LEO's.

[Guest MVFD334]

Why? Because its the RIGHT (human) thing to do.

Honestly, I am NOT going to sit here and criticize what they did because

we all make split second decisions.

The fact that they took some kind of action is commendable.

Could things have gone very bad? Absolutely!

Remember, your actions don't always have to be RIGHT

they have to be REASONABLE.

The point here is the Firefighters took action which had a good ending

with TWO SKELLS off the street!

KUDOS to the Broward County Firefighters!

Enough Said!

The truck loses control, takes out a family and the FF's aboard the truck playing LEO's get killed... Real commendable if that had happend. And what were these morons to do if the car actually pulled over? Total disregard for public safety, which I though was a firefighters number 1 job.

[Monty 35]

The truck loses control, takes out a family and the FF's aboard the truck playing LEO's get killed... Real commendable if that had happend. And what were these morons to do if the car actually pulled over? Total disregard for public safety, which I though was a firefighters number 1 job.

This makes me think about some of the FF heroism awards. You read about FF so and so rushing in to a building without PPE / SCBA and bravely rescuing someone / something.

Undoubtedly it's a tough call, would so and so have passed away if the rescue had been delayed? Regardless, should we be rewarding someone who ignores all the messages we put out about safety? What about the FF in a similar situation does a search of an empty building and gets in to trouble because they didn't have their PPE?

Maybe I'm too selfish - but I'm taking care of myself first (now maybe in the heat of battle it would be a bit different, I've not been put in this kind of situation before fortunately - I'm usually with the truck)

[DaRock98 76]

I agree...their actions were commendable. Not the smartest decisions, at least for this time it turned out ok. At a minimum I would have tried to get a plate or solid description, but not chase them down. BNechis excellent points...

The truest "right" thing to do is not put the general public at any additional risk by our actions as well.

Absolutely! I think that is exactly what they should have done. Leave the police work to the police just like police should leave the firefighting work to the firefighters.

[ems731 0]

While their intent was comendable, I don't think chasing them in the rig with lights and sirens on and weaving through traffic was a good idea. Could have gone bad real quick.

I agree with this. I don't see a problem with calling it in and following the suspects AT A SAFE DISTANCE (no lights, no sirens, obeying ALL traffic laws) to update to the police on the location of the suspects. But at no point I feel should you engage in a pursuit (lights and sirens) with armed suspects or any suspects for that matter because you could very well make them more reckless putting more people at risk. Things could go really bad really quickly. How is a fire truck suppose to keep up with a car at high speeds? It won't, thats not what it was designed for. You should only do what you are trained and equipped to do.

However, I'm glad everything turned out ok.