DFD Firefighters Fired!

**tarkus** · December-18-10, 03:19 PM

When will Detroits administration get its collective head out of its ass, and repair and maintain quarters and equipment, so that the firefighters don't have to resort to this.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...s-has-backlash

lilpup · December-18-10, 03:22 PM

What, exactly, is your beef? That they got fired? They deserved it!

**tarkus** · December-18-10, 03:40 PM

I'm not complaining about that. Did you read the whole article? They were only taking it due to the failure of DFD to maintain their quarters.

lilpup · December-18-10, 03:45 PM

Yes, I read the article. Nothing new there. Between your subject line and your follow up it sounds like you're justifying or defending theft by city employees.

doesn't matter if it's Kwame's crew or an office clerk, theft's illegal

so many on here have espoused "broken windows" enforcement in the past but when there's a modicum of enforcement the stuck pig squealing starts

**eno** · December-18-10, 03:46 PM

And if they take it from a house that you own, what do they call it?

**gazhekwe** · December-18-10, 04:03 PM

They are alleging it was common, accepted and encouraged practice, undertaken to maintain dilapidated fire stations. That is sad, as it really outlines a whole 'nother layer of corruption. City has money to fix, but doesn't, and encourages those impacted to fend for themselves however they can.

**rjk** · December-18-10, 04:33 PM

"Nevin -- who once owned a screen door business -- vows to fight his dismissal in court, claiming the department came after him because he criticized its leadership in the press, calling them "corrupt" and "a total failure" and pointing out broken equipment, holes in boots and dangerous working conditions."

If you're going to get caught taking a screen door you don't criticize leadership in the press. Or if you're going to criticize leadership in the press you don't get caught stealing a screen door. Whatever event followed the other he wasn't too smart about it. They may have been looking for a reason to fire him and it appears that he may have handed it to them on a silver platter.

**Nee** · December-18-10, 07:25 PM

I've seen City employees do far worst and either get a slap on the wrist or still be allowed to resign/retire with benefits. The City needs a forensic audit to find out where all this money went.

**Hypestyles** · December-18-10, 07:34 PM

should there be a regionalized Fire/EMS service for detroit & vicinity.. covering wayne county communities..

lilpup · December-18-10, 07:38 PM

Nah, already existing mutual assist is pretty much the same thing

**Meddle** · December-19-10, 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

should there be a regionalized Fire/EMS service for detroit & vicinity.. covering wayne county communities..

Bullpuckey.

**hhockey** · December-19-10, 02:29 PM

lilpup they stole the door from an abandoned house, not like Detroit has many of those set to be torn down. Yes stealing is wrong however it was not for his personal use but for the Fire Station. I believe after 25 years firing him is a bit harsh.

**Al Publican** · December-19-10, 02:39 PM

Anyone know the name of the female fire inspector that was caught pumping city gas into her car?

**Carey** · December-19-10, 09:37 PM

The guy who was fired, Mike Nevin, was a dedicated firefighter who suffered numerous injuries over the years putting his life on the line while defending Detroiters' lives and property. His father was a firefighter and his wife is also a firefighter. She is currently recovering from a serious neck injury and implantation of a steel plate. The injury occurred when a living room ceiling collapsed on her. These are the people who will run into your burning apartment to haul you out of a back bedroom, no questions asked.

Taking a door out of an abandoned house was stupid, but I think the department fired Nevin because he has aired in the media the DFD's extremely serious manpower and equipment issues. As LeDuff notes, he is also the guy who told federal authorities about the equipment malfunction that happened to firefighter Walt Harris the morning Harris died in a fire.

Buy American · December-19-10, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by Carey

The guy who was fired, Mike Nevin, was a dedicated firefighter who suffered numerous injuries over the years putting his life on the line while defending Detroiters' lives and property. His father was a firefighter and his wife is also a firefighter. She is currently recovering from a serious neck injury and implantation of a steel plate. The injury occurred when a living room ceiling collapsed on her. These are the people who will run into your burning apartment to haul you out of a back bedroom, no questions asked.

Taking a door out of an abandoned house was stupid, but I think the department fired Nevin because he has aired in the media the DFD's extremely serious manpower and equipment issues. As LeDuff notes, he is also the guy who told federal authorities about the equipment malfunction that happened to firefighter Walt Harris the morning Harris died in a fire.

Thanks Carey, I couldn't have said that better. Mike Nevin has a reputation downtown as being someone who calls attention to things that need attention. The Walt Harris honing alarm is one big item that needed to be addressed. The City doesn't like to pay fines, they like to be the ones doing the taking from the taxpayers. Nevin is taking the fall this time, someone in the City will be the loser next time.
Yes, the door incident was not a smart move, Nevin didn't take it. He was in charge of the unit that day so he got fired. I guess the executives in the Fire Department would rather a scrapper get the door instead of making sure that doors were installed in engine houses where they could have been used to keep flies out. A person could go through any office down at City Hall and find corrupt people in every one of them. None of them are as dedicated as all of the fire and police personnel that protect and serve every day.
Guys running into fires with holes in their boots, their necks are unprotected against embers, their flashlights don't work unless they buy the batteries themselves. The firehouses are antiquated, plumbing is bad, heat and air conditioning [[if they have it) malfunctions all the time, the rigs are either in the shop or on the way, communications is terrible. The executives at the top are arrogant and racist, just like thug KK and his entire entourage.

thatguy123 · December-19-10, 11:08 PM

What a shock, people on here defending theft because someone "runs into a fire". I fully expect anyone defending this to also be defending Kwame to the bitter end. Running into fires doesnt get you special treatment or privileges

**kraig** · December-19-10, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by Carey

The guy who was fired, Mike Nevin, was a dedicated firefighter who suffered numerous injuries over the years putting his life on the line while defending Detroiters' lives and property. His father was a firefighter and his wife is also a firefighter. She is currently recovering from a serious neck injury and implantation of a steel plate. The injury occurred when a living room ceiling collapsed on her. These are the people who will run into your burning apartment to haul you out of a back bedroom, no questions asked.

Taking a door out of an abandoned house was stupid, but I think the department fired Nevin because he has aired in the media the DFD's extremely serious manpower and equipment issues. As LeDuff notes, he is also the guy who told federal authorities about the equipment malfunction that happened to firefighter Walt Harris the morning Harris died in a fire.

Rule of the streets. When you're doing dirt, shut the fuck up and stay low key. If he knew he was standing in front of a bullseye, he shouldn't have provided his assassins with the bullets.

**Carey** · December-20-10, 12:07 AM

I don't think anyone is defending theft.

But the bigger picture here is this guy, Nevin, was a hard-working city employee who helped the media expose one of the biggest problems in Detroit -- the woeful state of its fire department. He's lost his job not because some young guy on his crew took a door from an abandoned house, but because Nevin blew the whistle on a critical local issue. He should be considered a hero.

Anyone who lives in, works in, or cares about Detroit should remember the last firefighter to die in the line of duty died with a faulty alert that left him laying silently under a pile of debris in an attic in the dark while his comrades struggled to find him. That's the real crime.

**Lowell** · December-20-10, 07:40 AM

With the revelation that Nevin was a whistle-blower, this has the smell of a set-up. The origin of the images are not cited. Was this shot by a neighbor or bystander or by a Fox crew? If the latter, of all the fire trucks and locations in the city, who instructed the video crew to stake out that location and how did they know to do it?

**Carey** · December-20-10, 09:15 AM

I don't think it was a set-up. But the DFD administration has used the circumstances to get rid of of a thorn in its side. Nevin and three other firefighters in E 38 stopped on a street on the lower east side. Nevin, being the crew boss, was riding shotgun. The two younger guys in the back got off and entered the abandoned home and took the door. The neighbor across the street videotaped the whole episode, and called Fox 2. Scott Lewis did the story. The rig driver and two firefighters who took the door are not losing their jobs. Nevin, in fact, was dismissed earlier this year for the same offense, but went to court and got his job back. It looks like he's going to have to do it again.