The Buzz - A work of Fiction (part 3)

From Al Haines, Captain, sta. #22 "C" - I was surely surprised when I heard the news. Mitchell always seemed to work hard around here and was doing OK on most of his drills from what Hardy said. He seemed to keep his ears open and his mouth shut. I just don't know what to say.

From "Fast" Eddie Garza, medic, sta. #13 "C" - All Riiiight, another vacancy on "B" shift. More O.T. for me!.

From Rich Bischkegel, engineer, sta. #21 "B" - I heard that there are pictures of Mitchell that were taken at "Burning Man" last year. I hear he doesn't look so good with his schlong hanging out. What was he thinking?

From Gary "Go Hard" Moran, firefighter, sta. #21 "A" - I say good riddance. If he couldn't hack it, screw him. You have to live, breathe and be this department every second of your life. If not, you don't belong here.Obviously, Mitchell got distracted and he wasn't focused.  His captain isn't that strong either. Hopefully the new guy will be more committed.

From Dennis Johnson, Captain, sta. #18 "B" (President IAFF local #1543) It's always sad when we have to let a probationary firefighter go. As a probie, they can be terminated for almost any reason. They have no protection under the law, so there's not a lot we can do for them.Fortunately, it doesn't happen that often.

From Richard Bong, Division Chief, Administration and Personnel - This is the part of my job that I hate the most. Here we have a guy, doing OK on probation, someone who is probably going to get through it and then something like this pops up. When we were made aware of the situation, we had to run it through H.R. Their attorney said that Mitchell was too big of a liability for the city to retain. I have to agree. Even though this was necessary, I still hate to see it happen.

From Cyndi Brennan, engineer, sta. #22 "B" - Oh my god. I am so sorry that this happened. I can't believe they fired him. I was there and I saw the whole thing. Things just got out of control, but it wasn't that bad. I've known Katy, Mitch's wife since high school, we hang out all of the time. She just had a baby six months ago. What are they going to do now?

From Bob Hardy, captain, sta. #22 "B" - Some days, I just absolutely hate this damn job.

Thanks for reading,
Schmoe