JC Reindl
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Detroit’s fire commissioner says he will investigate the circumstances of a social media photograph posted on New Year’s Eve showing 18 firefighters posing in front of roaring house fire, according to media reports.
The photo was posted on the “Detroit Fire Incidents Page” on Facebook along with the caption “crews take a moment to get a selfie on New Years!” In the background is a house engulfed in flames. The post has since been taken down.
Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones told WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) in a statement that if the photo “is verified,” then “discipline will be in order.”
“There are a lot of ways to celebrate a retirement,” Jones said in the statement. “Taking a photo in front of a building fire is not one of them.”
Sources told the TV station the engulfed house and the neighboring house were vacant, and that firefighters could not go inside the house to battle the blaze, only attack it defensively.
The photo generated more than 300 reactions and 50 comments on Facebook. Many comments wished the firefighters a Happy New Year, although some said the photo left a bad impression.
One firefighter asked the Facebook page’s operator to take down the photo and said “the dept is threatening to fire me.”
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