Everett firefighter found with items from burned out business
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EVERETT, Wash. -- An Everett firefighter is off the job and under investigation for allegedly trying to sell antiques from a store that recently burned down.
Now the owner of that shop wonders if the firefighter helped himself to her merchandise.
More than a life was lost during a deadly fire last year in Everett. Some of the merchandise trapped inside the charred rubble has been showing up for sale on Craigslist, and the city is trying to determine if one of its own firefighters is to blame.
The merchant whose items are showing up for sale doesn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation.
"It's devastating that we couldn't claim our own items and that some people were," she said.
The woman learned that police found some of her antiques inside the home of one of the firefighters who battled the blaze at her business.
"Come to find out a fireman has the stolen property and is selling it on Craigslist. It's terrible," she said.
The burned out building was so unstable that vendors were never allowed back inside to salvage their property. More than $100,000 in merchandise was thought to be lost until a vendor noticed her brass lamp and gold night stand for sale online.
Police told her to meet with the seller while officers waited outside.
"He says that he purchased the items and that if we wanted them back, we'd have to pay for them," the vendor said.
Police stepped in at that point and city leaders have since launched their own investigation.
"We have placed a firefighter on administrative leave following an allegation that he was in possession of items that allegedly were improperly removed from a fire scene," said the city's Kate Reardon.
Officials say paid leave is standard in these cases and should not be considered disciplinary action.
KOMO is not naming the firefighter because he has yet to be arrested or charged with a crime.
Now the owner of that shop wonders if the firefighter helped himself to her merchandise.
More than a life was lost during a deadly fire last year in Everett. Some of the merchandise trapped inside the charred rubble has been showing up for sale on Craigslist, and the city is trying to determine if one of its own firefighters is to blame.
The merchant whose items are showing up for sale doesn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation.
"It's devastating that we couldn't claim our own items and that some people were," she said.
The woman learned that police found some of her antiques inside the home of one of the firefighters who battled the blaze at her business.
"Come to find out a fireman has the stolen property and is selling it on Craigslist. It's terrible," she said.
The burned out building was so unstable that vendors were never allowed back inside to salvage their property. More than $100,000 in merchandise was thought to be lost until a vendor noticed her brass lamp and gold night stand for sale online.
Police told her to meet with the seller while officers waited outside.
"He says that he purchased the items and that if we wanted them back, we'd have to pay for them," the vendor said.
Police stepped in at that point and city leaders have since launched their own investigation.
"We have placed a firefighter on administrative leave following an allegation that he was in possession of items that allegedly were improperly removed from a fire scene," said the city's Kate Reardon.
Officials say paid leave is standard in these cases and should not be considered disciplinary action.
KOMO is not naming the firefighter because he has yet to be arrested or charged with a crime.
He'll get away with it - He's a HERO...
Not sure why there is any shock about firefighters taking belongings from fire victim's homes.  This is pretty common anywhere in the country. What is rare, is getting caught. It is shameful that a few rotten eggs make all fire departments look bad - but as I said, this is common. I think a good practice to address this is ensure that FF candidates have nothing in their background alluding to property crimes, and are polygraphed before induction into the department. It may also pay to have an integrity control mechanism in each department that focus' on property crimes.
Way to go KOMO for blasting the fire department before all the facts are gathered. How about this...wait until he is charged before accusing someone of something. Just because he was in possession doesn't mean he stole them. Believe it or not the little chain link fences and fire line tape they put up do nothing to stop thieves. In my security days I used to work fires and would catch people all the time trying to break into the fire scene.Â
@seattleemt LOL what more facts do you need? He stole them and that's that. Not only cops can be crooks you know
Job opening soon in the Everett Fire Department
I had a house fire many years ago in Maple Leaf ( 1986) and when I finally got to the inside of my house, a lot of memorable things were missing.  It was mainly smoke damage  so could see what was there.  They sure went thru it, cannot replace a lot of things. Sad.
@signe morefieldthe suggestion that firefighters are thieves is ridiculous... there may be the occasional bad apple and perhaps even a VERY rare incident like this article (if that's what it actually turns out to be), but I'd be a lot more trusting of a group of firefighters in my home than the "claims"  of some wingnut  poster on the KOMO website.Â
they are humans and not above---or below---anything...........just like everybody else. ---i for one---am tired of following the yellow brick road. EVEN if he didn't steal them, what he did makes him a pretty big ass, in my book.
@signe morefield Not buying that either.Â
Sorry, not buying that.
I saw that on the Simpsons.
I'll say it again... thieves are the scummiest of scum. If this firefighter did in fact steal these items then throw his butt behind bars!
"He says that he purchased the items and that if we wanted them back, we'd have to pay for them," the vendor said.Â
If he did purchase the items then he should be able to give police the contact info for who he purchased the items from. But I do have to say that it seems pretty far fetched that a firefighter who fought the fire at that location ended up purchasing multiple items that were supposedly lost in the same fire.Â
@Tattooed_Angel2Â Â
I agree with you whole heartily. The men and women who work for fire departments are just like anyone else. For the most part, upstanding people will be hired, but the occasional "bad apple" will get through. If this is true, he/she needs to be treated like anyone else, no better or worse then anyone else.
Even if he "purchased" the items from someone, to do what he did is absolutely unacceptable. Â What a total donkey. How about some common sense and decency.........????????????????
With all that's been going on over the past 48 hours or so, including a woman being brutally attacked....THIS is the top story KOMO? Wow...I'm completely underwhelmed.
Is it possible that he purchased the antiques from someone else (the real thief) not knowing they were stolen and the fact that he fought the fire in the antique store is just a coincidence? I'm a professional firefighter and having worked the job for 20 years, can't imagine how he could pull this off at the fire scene. From the pictures I saw, the building was a total loss - everything inside was destroyed. This means he would have had to pre-plan the heist by abandoning his "buddy", keeping out of eyesight from everyone else onscene (and on a fire this size, there would be a ton of people everywhere), stash the loot, and come back in the morning when you get off shift.
Most firefighters I know have too much integrity to do something like this. The common common mantra is "It's not worth losing your job." Hopefully this is just an unfortunate coincidence.
@I Can't Believe This! I'm sure you're right that most firefighters would never do something this low, but that mantra does not speak to integrity.Â
How about, "It's not worth losing your honor and self-respect" instead of, "You won't benefit financially enough to make it worth any inconvenience to yourself" ?
@I Can't Believe This! What about going back to the location after everybody was gone? That's more probable than him stealing the items right in front of everyone.
@I Can't Believe This! From what I remember reading as follow up, and watching it take place, I believe they went back in in after it was extinguished to see how stable the building was. Perhaps it was not during the actual fighting of the fire. I watched this almost from the start. I had just played soccer and was leaving the soccer arena and saw the flames. For a while it looked like they might put it out, but all of a sudden the roof absolutely became engulfed.Â
Whatever the case, I really do hope it's not the truth and it is a misunderstanding. But, wow, that's pretty coincidental. Of course there's so much we don't know at all and will never know.
I hope this is not true because it's such a let down. But if this story is true as written (big 'IF'), then I think it's too much of a coincidence that a firefighter that fought this specific blaze had "purchased" any antiques at all off of CL that just "happened" to be from this store & was "re" selling them. Especially since it was more than one.
I can't imagine that this is widespread. Being a firefighter usually requires a huge amount of dedication and self-sacrifice. It's not usually the type of job that attracts a greedy and predatory personality.Â
@NW-Economist As much as our government keeps "cutting back" on vital services, I could see how this could happen, but you're right, it doesn't fit the personality type. However, if your job was perpetually in jeopardy due to ignorance, and you had people dependent on you, the temptation would be there.