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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Firefighter wanted photo to give to his young son
Cellphone pose 'innocent' error
A Winnipeg firefighter caught posing for a cellphone picture in front of live fire last week says he asked the picture be taken for his son.
On Dec. 3, Free Press photographer Boris Minkevich took a photo of a fire on Redwood Avenue with two firefighters in the foreground. One posed for a cellphone picture shot by the other while they waited for aerial equipment to be set up.
"The reason I wanted the photo was I wanted a picture that I could give my six-year-old son," wrote the firefighter in a letter to the Free Press. He said he didn't want his name published because of possible retribution to his family. "The reason for this is personal and I don't want it to be an excuse for my poor judgment."
The photograph sparked an investigation by the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service. While firefighters are provided with cameras to document evidence, WFPS Deputy Chief Ken Sim said it appearred the camera depicted in Minkevich's photo was a "non-issued device."
The house on fire was vacant and derelict, "used for storage and was filled entirely with stuff," the firefighter wrote. He explained the two were waiting for an aerial ladder to arrive to attack the fire from above.
"Our attack line was taken by other crew members to cover exposures and we staged at the sidewalk waiting to be retasked when conditions permitted," he wrote. "At that point in time I asked the fellow firefighter to quickly take my picture with my cellphone. Once the roof was burnt off, the fellow firefighter and myself were tasked to take a line and begin extinguishing the flames from the front of the house along with the other crew members and the aerial ladder."
The firefighter deemed the photo op an "innocent" mistake. "At the time I deemed the picture to be innocent since there were no life safety issues at hand and we were without a task," he said.
He didn't blame Minkevich for snapping the picture either.
Media interest in Minkevich's photograph came from as far away as the San Francisco Chronicle which wanted a copy of the picture for its website.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 9, 2009 A7
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