- Think we need to check inside once the fire's out? Nah, prolly not.
Update: According to the AP, Cleveland Fire Chief Paul Stubbs is considering disciplining the offending fire fighters. Also, the captain in charge "feels bad," so there's that.
Fire Chief Paul Stubbs said Tuesday that the captain in charge of firefighters at the scene made a mistake and feels bad. According to Stubbs, the captain said he looked inside the vehicle but did not see the body.
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Cleveland firefighters were called to a car blaze Saturday morning behind a vacant house. They extinguished the fire, called for a tow a truck, and waited.
It wasn't until the tow arrived, some two hours later, that the assembled crews realized there was a body inside the 1997 Chevy Blazer.
Hm, where we have we seen such nonchalant disregard for detailed investigation like this before from the proud men who serve, protect, and keep Clevelanders safe?
At least they correctly identified the body as a body and not, you know, a deer.
According to a recently completed autopsy, the victim died of a gunshot wound, not the fire, so there will be a murder investigation shortly.
There will also be another investigation as Cleveland fire chief Paul Stubbs wonders just how the hell his men could miss the body in the car in the first place.
Fire Department Spokesman Larry Gray spoke to the Plain Dealer. His excuse: it was dark outside, don't you know, and they just couldn't see.
"The car was in the back yard of a vacant house," he said. "It was very dark out there. We asked police to tow it out. It was a low priority, so police got there around 8:15 a.m. and realized there was a body in the vehicle."The death is being investigated by Cleveland homicide detectives and the fire department's arson unit.
