A FIRE crew has sparked outrage after a New Year’s Eve selfie appears to show a group of firefighters posing in front of a burning house.
The photo was shared on social media by Detroit Fire Incidents Page on Tuesday evening.
“Crews take a moment to get a selfie on New Years!” the caption reads.
More than a dozen firefighters are pictured in front of the two-story home in Michigan as bright orange flames roared in the background.
Detroit Fire confirmed to CNN that the house seen ablaze was empty at the time, and so was the building beside it.
There’s no indication of when the picture was taken, but fire officials told the Detroit News they believe that it was taken to celebrate a retiring battalion chief.
The house was too dangerous to enter at the time of the celebration, according to Deputy Fire Commissioner Dave Fornell.
Charred remains of the torched home were seen in a photo taken the following day.
The good intentions were lost on locals and fire officials, who considered the ill-advised photo unprofessional.
“There are a lot of ways to celebrate a retirement. Taking a photo in front of a building fire is not one of them,” said Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones in statement to CNN affiliate WXYZ.
He called the photo “inappropriate and unprofessional” and said disciplinary action will follow if the photo is verified.
Jones added that the picture will be investigated.
Fornell deemed the snapshot “despicable.”
Nearly 100 people had shared the image on Facebook by Wednesday morning, Detroit News reported.
Although the snapshot has since been removed, it was swiftly criticized by several people online.
“I hope that was a staged fire,” commented one user.
“I’d hate to think my firemen (were) posing for pictures while a real house was burning.”
“Way (to) go. Way (to) look professional and this puts a really bad rep on your company too,” wrote another.
Detroit Fire Incidents responded to the backlash in a statement posted on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.
“In regards to the photo that was removed would like to clear a few things up,” the post reads.
“First of us [sic] no one at this page took that photo,
Second we were asked to post it by a firefighter for the city of Detroit, Third the only reason it was removed is we received messages by guys on the job stating that they had been threatened For the photo being posted.”
The administrators of Facebook page clarified to say firefighters were being threatened with “punitive actions” in regards to their jobs.
“Happy New Years from us at Detroit Fire Incidents Page.”
