Decatur fire recruits back in training after investigation

DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Training classes resumed at the Decatur Fire and Rescue (DFR) school after recruits were sent home on Friday following an investigation.

The Alabama Fire College, which is responsible for the recruitment of the firefighters, launched the inquiry for ‘unspecified allegations.’

During the investigation, a recruitment training video surfaced that’s connected to the actual training.

The video shows supervisors and recruits in a bathroom as part of what is described as ‘odd rescue’ training. The video shows a man being rescued while lying on the floor with his pants down. In the roleplay exercise, the man also appeared to have a plunger hanging from his backside.

Laughing reactions to the roleplay could be heard in the video. Tracy Thornton, chief of DFR, says the video was designed to show recruits what could happen in multiple situations.

Thornton explained further that the video was taken earlier this year during a drill that was intended to show recruits that they may have responded to very odd circumstances on emergency calls.

News 19 learned that the training resumed after the investigation by the Alabama Fire College, which found no major violations.

Thornton released a statement to News 19 regarding the video:

“The Alabama Fire College was at Decatur Fire/Rescue on Monday, September 30th to start an investigation into allegations regarding the recruit school that is currently underway in Decatur. Each recruit was interviewed with an in-depth one-on-one interview yesterday. Today, the Alabama Fire College is conducting interviews with the DFR staff. This is a lengthy process that is being completed for both the Alabama Fire College and Decatur Fire/Rescue in order to obtain as much of the information concerning the investigation as possible.

A video has been shared with Decatur Fire/Rescue that was taken from one of our previous training classes.  First, the video did not come out of the current recruit class. It occurred earlier this year and in a completely different class. This training exercise was in a controlled environment during a class. This part of the training was to mimic a 24-hour drill that was designed to show recruits what could happen in multiple situations. Recruits were required to work a full 24-hour shift and respond to different calls just as they would do if they were working a regular shift at a station. They responded to fire, medical and rescue calls during this time. The video was taken during a drill that was intended to show recruits that they may have respond to very odd circumstances on emergency calls.

During the video, we witnessed an exercise being used that was inappropriate for this type of training. Even though the concept of preparing recruits for the unexpected is good in theory, the practical application was completely wrong. This was not appropriate and is not how we train our recruits in Decatur. Training scenarios like this should never have occurred and will not be permitted to happen again. It was wrong. Even though the DFR Command Staff should have never let this happen, it did and now that we are aware, we are taking the appropriate action.
DFR will continue to work closely with the Alabama Fire College.”

Chief Tracy Thornton, Decatur Fire/Rescue

According to the Decatur Fire and Rescue, 21 new recruits began training on September 3.

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