Posted on 11/22/2008 2:15:39 PM PST by Daffynition
ZEPHRYHILLS - Henry Ben Morgan wanted to save his pets.
Instead, he ended up in handcuffs and at least three dogs and a cat perished in the blaze that destroyed his home.
Just before 11 a.m. today, firefighters were called to 35615 Chester Drive and arrived 12 minutes later, finding the home engulfed in flames.
At some point, Morgan's wife arrived, followed by Morgan a few minutes later, said Pasco Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello.
Morgan started running for the house. Sheriff's deputies and firefighters yelled for him to stay back, but he kept going toward a window.
Deputies and firefighters, according to a report, restrained him so he could not jump through the window and into the blaze.
Morgan, 41, was forcibly removed from the scene, the report states, and was arrested on charges of obstructing the extinguishment of a fire, a felony, and resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor, respectively.
He was being held at the Land O' Lakes Jail this evening. Bail was set at $5,150.
About 20 firefighters continued fighting the one-alarm fire but couldn't save the animals or the home, Ciccarello said.
"It looks like a total loss," he said.
The family of five, including two teenage girls and a 7-year-old boy, are being helped by the American Red Cross.
The fire began between a garage-turned-bedroom and a utility room in the small ranch home. The cause was a worn extension cord that had been run under a door, Ciccarello said.
No one was injured.
They’re going to charge this guy with a FELONY? That is flat out insane.
You have to understand the rules firefighters operate under. Since I became a volunteer, it’s been drilled into our heads over and over again that we have a duty to ourselves first, to others second. It gives me no pleasure to say this, but pets seem to be low on the list.
And a cat stuck in a drain is different because there is little to no danger involved for the firefighters. Had that man gone back in, not only would he have probably not been able to save his pets, but he would have been forcing the firefighters to put their own lives in jeopardy to save his.
Obviously you’re one of the cadre of authoritarian statist JBT boot-lickers here.
Pets are as much family as the humans.
This guy should sue Pasco County into bankruptcy....false arrest is just a starter.
I can only imagine what I’d be like in such a situation.
:-(
I meant to ping you to post 19.
It sounds like typical JBT over-reaction.
Then maybe you firefighters need to re-asses their priorities...or find a new career path.
What they did to this guy and his furry family members, along with what you just said is causing me to lose the respect I’ve held them in since 9/11.
Sorry....JBT?
Locally this week, we had an early morning house fire. For some reason, no one called 911. When the VFD got there, the house was almost fully involved.
The chief knew there was an elderly man inside and he said he knew he could have gotten in there, but probably wouldn’t have gotten out.
These are men making life and death decisions and they are only human. They have to go home to their families too.
Jack Booted Thugs
Then let ‘em find a different line of work.
What if the FDNY members who ran into the collapsing WTC on 9/11 felt the same way you and some of these firemen did?
You’d be saving no one, or no animal, if the house was engulfed in flames.
If the fire fighters won’t go in without the protection they have on, anyone one who goes in unprotected is committing suicide.
No way unprotected human flesh can handle those temperatures while doing a search for an animal who is likely hiding.
If it collapses on you, you’d be buried in a pile of burning rubble. Not much of a favor to your family and the animals would still be gone. Then your family would have to deal with losing you as well.
And then what? The police and firefighters get condemned for not doing enough to save you from yourself?
It’s a lose/lose situation for them.
Save HUMAN lives.
They are not derelict in their duty by following the orders of the chief on the scene.
They are not derelict in their duty for not *saving* animals that they may not have known were in the house.
They are not derelict in their duty for not being willing to commit suicide.
Tell you what..... Go to firefighting school and become a firefighter and go into the unstable house engulfed in flames yourself to save someone's pets if you feel so strongly about it.
And his family would have sued the pants off the department for not stopping him.
Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Sounds like a normal rual fire department.
Get a clue.
Nobody ran INTO the TWC as they were collapsing. Matter of fact, after the first tower went down, they evacuated and called back the men in the second tower so that they wouldn't needlessly be killed.
It saved many lives.
If I was a firefighter, I would try to think, not feel, before I acted.
At some point, Morgan's wife arrived, followed by Morgan a few minutes later, said Pasco Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello.
Sounds like the fire had been going for some time and there was no way that they would have known there were animals inside as the owners showed up AFTER the fire department.
And before the dept gets shredded for *taking so long*, there's places in our parts that it would easily take that long for the firefighters to reach from the time they got the call, to the time they got to the station, drove to the scene, and managed to get water going.
Yes.
It’s adding insult to injury.
My comment was just a guess, and if I happen to be correct, that doesn’t make arresting him the right thing.
You talk as though we don’t want to save everyone. Believe me, we do, but a firefighter does no one any good by recklessly putting himself in danger, which then puts more firefighters in danger because they have to go in and rescue him. It’s a never ending cycle unless we follow the rules given to us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.