The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A lawyer for a D.C. firefighter says his client is being disciplined for disobeying an order not to respond to a fire and fighting it anyway.
Lt. Gerald Burton was driving a fire engine on his way to a training class on November 21 when a call went out about a house fire a few blocks away. He called a supervisor to say he was nearby and could help.
Burton’s attorney, Donna Rucker, says the supervisor told him to keep going to the training class and not stop for the fire. But people flagged him down when he drove by and he saw the flames from the house.
Burton again called the supervisor, who told him to play a backup role. But when he arrived, only he and another firefighter riding with him were on the scene. They put out the blaze, and nobody was hurt.
Rucker says that Burton, a 21-year veteran of the D.C. fire department, is now facing a two-day suspension without pay for disobeying an order.
The fire department would not comment, saying it’s a personnel matter.