The video of a house fire in Dunmore, Pennsylvania last week has garnered over 230,000 views as of this time, tied with a helicopter video from two years ago. The Dunmore Fire Department had responded to at least 20 structure fires a year previous to this incident. The department was set up as a career department with 30 employees in 2000 and after that, paid on call. In January of 2011, a change in administration led to the resignation of chief officer and the formation of a new department with minimal staffing.
The new chief had no experience in responding to a large blaze and instead focused on reducing the size of the department while emphasizing the need for immediate assistance. The new chief also changed the department’s culture. Within a short period of time, morale problems became so bad that members began to cut the department back to a point where it was barely functional. The new chief responded by saying that he would cut the department back to a manageable size and stated that he would focus on the prevention of future incidents.
This was the catalyst for the viral video. Originally posted at Firefighternation.com, watch the video below.
Thanks to everyone who sent in their videos, photos and information. We appreciate the feedback and the opportunity to respond to questions and respond constructively to others. I will admit that my view of the Dunmore fire is rudimentary and untested, but I assure you that I am not viewing this video with the intent of harming anyone.
Disclaimer: The preceding content was generated by an AI algorithm, trained on millions of points of data scoured from the web. It is constantly updating itself, but while some of the information presented in this article may be true, none of the facts have been verified.