Nashville Fire Department: Firefighters Taking Pics While Fighting Fires & Selfies at Scenes?

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RELATED: Part I: Nashville Fire Department Social Media Meltdown, & Nashville Fire Department IAFF 140 Response. Also, Nashville Fire Department: VIDEO! Stop the Engine! Stripping for a Drag Queen while on Duty! NEW: Tim Lankford says he was “So Disturbed” by the Gay Marriage Ruling that he can “Barely Even Function” at his job as District Chief!

We discovered an alarming trend over the past few days while researching the Nashville Fire Department, and the social media posts made by it’s employees – who are mainly firefighters and medics that we depend on to save lives during emergencies and be 100% focused on the job in front of them. The trend that we have noticed is that it appears many of these medics and firefighters take the time during rescues, incidents, operations, and fighting fires, to take personal photos – and then they share them on social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc… by the HUNDREDS!

We’ve also learned via their own comments and statements on photos that some firefighters are allegedly wearing PERSONAL HELMET cams during responses. This creates problems that we can’t even begin to touch on in this article – such as, is the footage archived? Is it available for a FOIA request? Is it official footage? Can it be used in an investigation? Can the public request it? How is it not managed by the city? How is this even allowed? Some of the images below are collected from helmet cams, according to those that posted them(firefighters).

A quick search of some common hashtags, such as #NashvilleFire #NashvilleFirefighters etc.. turned up hundreds and hundreds of photos taken at scenes of incidents – all in direct violation of the social media policy, which requires specific approval before taking photos at scenes and posting them on social media, even on personal accounts – especially when the employee is identifiable by all of the uniforms and logos to be a member of the Nashville Fire Department. Here is the specific part of the policy that prohibits these photos – and unless the Director Chief is spending his days allowing hundreds of photos to be posted on social media, we’ll assume these are in violation of that policy:

c) Employees are prohibited from publishing any photos or information related to a Departmental incident without prior consent from the Director-Chief or his designee.

And the public has noticed! more than one of these photos shared on social media has comments such as this one, from a citizen:

“…save somebody and quit snapping pics…”

“… I don’t want halff my ass burnt off and look up and you got ya iPhone out like “like hold on y’all get a lol closer so I can get all y’all on instagram”… “

response comment

Here’s a small fraction of the sampling we found, just by some simple searches on Instagram – there are hundreds, if not thousands, more – including those on snapchat, facebook, and twitter, which we have not published here.

NEW: Tim Lankford says he was “So Disturbed” by the Gay Marriage Ruling that he can “Barely Even Function” at his job as District Chief!

Here are the some of the individual images, if you’re on mobile, or for easier browsing:

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Call / Text Kurt NOW! 615-479-0550

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7 Thoughts to “Nashville Fire Department: Firefighters Taking Pics While Fighting Fires & Selfies at Scenes?”

  1. […] Nashville Fire Department: Firefighters Taking Pics While Fighting Fires & Selfies at Scenes? […]

  2. Alechia Dean

    Let me start by saying that my reaction may be biased because I am the granddaughter of a retired fire chief of the NFD. However, I did take time to read your piece and found no substance, only an opinion that the firemen are treating their response to calls as a photo shoot.

    This is alarming and I can understand your concern and you’re allowed to have an opinion. But, if you take a closer look at the photos, the firemen are all performing their duties ,in action. You may not understand how that works… they don’t call the firemen and they all jump out of the truck to attack a fire all at once, that would only cause confusion, chaos and ultimately not get the job done. There is a system to it,each man is assigned a specific duty while on a run in order to complete the larger goal, to rescue and extinguish fires.

    The problem that I have with this entire post is that, although you may feel the need to rant and rave about how you THINK things work and should be done, this type of platform has the ability to not only diminish the character of the Nashville Fire Department, you may also cause one to be on leave from work, or even lose their career completely.

    At the end of the day, the men and women of the NFD place their lives on the line to save people, PERIOD. Just because a photo is snapped by someone doesn’t mean that they are any less capable of completing their job. They pride themselves on saving lives and should be appreciated, not ridiculed for taking pride and giving an inside look at their daily activities.

  3. Jasmne

    WOW. Understanding that these pictures my be disturbing to some; this entire article is rude and disrespectful to the Nashville Firefighters who are shown and not shown. The article states “We discovered an alarming trend over the past few days while researching the Nashville Fire Department”. These photos are not from a few days ago. The majority of these photos are from over 2 to 3 years ago. These photos are not under names that anyone can personally identify anyone; so whoever provided these photos, violated a brotherhood only because they are upset that others have received accreditations and promotions by working to their best abilities and they failed to do so.

    I hope Logan’s know that you are willing to tear down your community protectors just so you can finally be seen.

  4. […] In case you missed it, this is the 4th in a series of NFD articles: Part I – Social Media Meltdown, Follow-Up from IAFF Union & Policy, Part II – Taking Pics on Scene. […]

  5. […] Pingback: Nashville Fire Department: Firefighters Taking Pics While Fighting Fires & Selfies at Scenes? &… […]

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