A fire crew in Southend, UK, have been suspended from carrying out their community work tasks after a firefighter was caught on camera wrapping two children – whose father worked at the same station – in cling film at a Southend fire station.
Essex Fire Service is investigating the incident after the BBC had got in touch with them after receiving pictures of the fire crew wrapping the children in cling film, with the images being sent in by a concerned party.
The chief fire officer at the station, Adam Eckley, said that the images in question had ‘raised concerns’ and that a ‘thorough investigation’ was under way to get to the bottom of what took place.
The main reason for the inquest is that the watch in question had been placed on ‘core duties only’, which means that they can’t carry out any of their community work that they’d normally be tasked with.
The children’s mother – who refused to be named for privacy reasons in order to protect the children involved – claimed that the youngsters enjoyed what happened as it was ‘intended as a joke’ by the fire crew involved.
It was in mid-September that the incident occurred, as five people – including the two children – were in attendance when the pictures were taken, and the mother of the children later put the pictures on social media platform Facebook.
Although Eckley maintained that he openly encourages ‘family spirit’, he also stressed that fire stations are ultimately a ‘workplace’, and behaviour there ‘must reflect our service values and exemplify professionalism.’
