Flirty Firemen were on 'mercy mission'

Aug 24 2008 by Pauline Holt, Sunday Sun

FIREFIGHTERS criticised for allegedly flirting with young women revellers while on duty were on a “mercy mission” it is claimed . . . because one of their wives was locked out of the house!

Last week, we told how Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service launched an internal investigation after we ran a photograph which appeared to show a young female reveller clambering out of a parked fire engine as another chatted to a firefighter.

The snap was taken by a taxi driver, who claimed fire and rescue personnel are putting lives at risk by “cruising” through a busy city centre in an emergency vehicle to impress girls.

However, it has now been claimed the only reason the emergency vehicle was parked up was because the driver’s missus had lost her house keys.

The alleged explanation has been made in an email which seeks to defend the firefighters.

The email — from an anonymous writer who claims to know “many serving firefighters” — said: “What actually happened was the firefighter in the photo, who was the driver of the fire appliance, was handing over a set of house keys to his wife.

“The other female was a drunken passer-by who attempted to mount the fire appliance but was not allowed to, for obvious reasons.”

“The very same firefighter who is in the photograph would not hesitate to risk his own life to save others if the situation required.”

As revealed last week, the cabbie, who does not wish to be named, claimed to have witnessed such behaviour on a number of occasions and stormed: “It’s an outrage and something needs to be done about it.”

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the vehicle in the photograph was one of their appliances and promptly launched an investigation.

Earlier this week, we forwarded the email to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service bosses to see if they could verify the explanation. A spokesperson said they were still unable to comment pending the outcome of the investigation.