Posted on 08/24/2005 4:13:42 PM PDT by IonImplantGuru
A radio show stunt that sent an intern rafting in the flooded Santa Cruz River on Wednesday morning was "irresponsible" and "mocks" the safety message firefighters have been sending this summer, a Tucson Fire Department official said.
While on the air with JohnJay and Rich on KRQQ, intern Randy Stein launched near El Camino del Cerro and managed to get out of the river before a police officer asked him to go home, DJ Rich Berra said.
"It sends the wrong message," said Fire Capt. Paul McDonough. "We"ve had several drownings in wash-related accidents this year and this kind of behavior is counterproductive to the importance of our message: Don"t go in the wash, don"t play in the wash."
Berra said he agrees with McDonough, but added: "If we just did responsible things on the radio, we would not be entertaining."
He said Stein is a "highly qualified stunt man" who was never in harm"s way.
"We don"t want kids to do as we do, just listen and enjoy," Berra said.
(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...
Actually yesterday's rain here in Tucson set a record for a single day: 2.22 inches. I know that's nothing to folks in the midwest and along the Gulf coast, but this year's monsoon has the ground saturated so our washes (i.e., dry stream beds) can fill in a hurry.
The quaint bit here is that, except over the major river beds, we don't believe in bridges over these washes. So, enough rain and you can have a pretty good flow of water anywhere there's a low spot in the road. The problem of motorists getting stranded in these in these areas and requiring rescue is serious enough that Arizona has a "Stupid Motorists Law" that calls for steep fines and paying for any rescue costs for anyone foolish enough to ignore the DO NOT ENTER WHEN FLOODED signs.
This just may be a future candidate for a Darwin Award....
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.