Law & Justice & fire firegeezer on 23 Sep 2008 08:46 am
Meddling Mayor Gets Arrested At Fire Scene
THE CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO, MAYOR WAS HANDCUFFED and led away from a fire scene in downtown Circleville Monday.
Mayor Chuck Taylor has been in office for less than a year, but he already has a reputation for intruding into fire and police operations causing them to caution him and insist on him getting out of the way.
Chillicothe Gazette
Monday’s fire at a major downtown building, a 19th-century landmark, was well involved when the mayor encroached on the scene less than 100 ft. from the 3-story building. The fire department had already ordered everybody to get away from the building because there were indications of an imminent wall collapse.
The Columbus Dispatch reports:
(P)olice officers say their mayor crossed the line of propriety — and safety — when he refused to leave the scene of a major downtown fire yesterday. When Taylor replied to an officer, “Arrest me,” police obliged.
Mayor Taylor (Channel 10 photo)Taylor briefly was handcuffed, escorted from the area and later charged with misconduct at an emergency, a fourth-degree misdemeanor carrying up to 30 days in jail.
Police Lt. Steve Gaines said the mayor refused to leave an adjacent alley as firefighters battled a suspicious blaze that gutted Mason’s Furniture & Floor Coverings.
Firefighters were worried that the southwest corner of the burning building might collapse, so they ordered the area evacuated, said Police Chief Wayne Gray. Not two minutes after Gaines removed the mayor from the alley, the wall collapsed.
Chillicothe Gazette photo
The building originally housed a hotel, but has been in use as a furniture store since 1900. The entire building was comprised of small individual rooms. When the FD arrived, all 3 floors had heavy fire throughout. Soon the 2nd and 3rd floors collapsed.
Fire Chief Tim Tener said that approx. 60 FF’s from five departments worked the blaze.
Tener said the west wall of the building was completely down and there was nothing left of the building. “The building is structurally unsound and it’s going to have to come down,” he said. “There’s a danger of collapse.”
The fire is considered “suspicious” and is being investigated by the State Fire Marshal office with assistance from the ATF.
The Columbus Dispatch has a REPORT.
The Chillicothe Gazette also has the STORY.
on 23 Sep 2008 at 9:25 pm 1.richard said …
should have let the idiot stay where he was. He wouldn’t have contributed to fire load THAT much.