Nosey Neighbors

Tonight we had a call of "the smell of something electrical burning" turned out to be nothing big but as part of our SOGs, we rolled two engines and a ladder. two police happened to be nearby, plus the chief's car. We determined it was a motor on something downstairs (I wasn't down there at the time. All I needed to hear was burnt up motor.) As I was getting back on the engine, a neighbor walks up to me and says, "I live next door. Is there anything I need to know?" "No sir. nothing serious." "You've got all the trucks here and you tell me it's nothing serious?" "yes sir. nothing serious." "Was it a gas leak?" "no sir. it was nothing to worry about."

Maybe it's because I'm becoming an EMT and I'm getting in the habit of following HIPAA, but I tend to not make it my place to tell the public anything.

How do you deal with those nosey neighbors?

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Permalink Reply by Smoke Eater on January 19, 2009 at 1:33am

I have a buddy whose dept. has a camp, for lack of better terms where psychics live. Well one night they got called out to a DOA there and while waiting for the coroner to show up one of the other "residents" came over and asked "What's going on?" My buddy looks at him and said "Why don't you tell us." I love to hear that story everytime we get together.

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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on January 19, 2009 at 5:08am

Is there really an issue telling them that there was a smell of smoke?

You could even spin doctor it into areminder to them to check their appliances....

As for smart arse replies to them- it achieves nothing.

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Permalink Reply by anne potter on January 19, 2009 at 5:48am

Sorry to tell you we within ourselfs also nosey..So how do we deal with ourselfs...A simple expalntion like you did and then move on... Look back my friend we all are nosey.. Just at different levels..... Continue to say as you did for you are right...

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Permalink Reply by Trainer on January 19, 2009 at 2:45pm

One of the many instructor stories I’ve heard over the years; this is kind of related, seems he was not only a FF but also on the city council and was fighting a grass fire on the other side of a fence. One lady, particular bitcher, came over climbed the fence to ask what he was doing, he was polite and answered, she then began to complain about everything under the sun plus he wasn’t doing this right, again he was polite and answered yes mam, no mam, then when she was climbing back through the fence, he hit her in the ass with a blast from an 1 ¾. He said he enjoyed his time off.

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Permalink Reply by Denise Co 29 on January 19, 2009 at 3:21pm

You did the right thing Adam. Last year in Sept we had a huge pig farm fire and we were half a mile away and the fill site and a man came up to me and said " do you think the smoke in the air is harmful because I have severe asthma" . Excuse me but why in the heck would you stay outside to be nosey if it means going into an asthma attack. I just told him to go back in his house and that was it. All these people from town were right at the fill site where we were trying to work and I just wanted to scream get out of here and stop being nosey and let us do our job. It's kinda like the rubberneckers going by a car accident and they crash in to the car in front because they are too worried about what is going on instead of their own safety.

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Permalink Reply by Tony P on January 19, 2009 at 5:03pm

Jim? In my Brigade you would be disciplined for making such a remark. Obviously you have lower standards. But then that is shown on your own page by the display of people bearing their arses under their National flag. In military uniform too. Real class.

You came out childishly against Ron, he was right, you are wrong.

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Permalink Reply by C.Reed 9-26 on January 20, 2009 at 3:40am

The nosey people that bother me the most are the ones that quit the FD due to some bogus reason or the "members" that we see once a decade or so. They either here the dispatch on a scanner or live in town and hear the hall siren or the trucks leaving town. They already know for that most part what was going on but want details becuase they couldn't hear the ops channels for some reason (dispatch is county wide and some juice to it, whereas the ops channels are regional repeaters). They'll drop by the hall when we get back (probably hear us going back in service) or will ask a few days later. I'll usually say "Mr So and So wasn't feeling well" or something else very vague.

As far as "Joe Public" on scene, unless it's their house or their property they don't need to know much at all.
Just be polite, let them know things are being handled properly and how to best detour around the area if needed. They'll get what they need to know from the local paper.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Ayotte on January 20, 2009 at 2:15pm

Awwwww now, did the "non essential chief" part hurt your little feeelings there??

Sowwy chief..Guess you should maybe pull up your big girl panties and grow a pair??

Jim.. your profile says that you are a captain in the Asheville FD with 31 years in...

Perhaps you should "grow a pair" and be a "leader" instead of one of the "boys" playing head games with the people you are sworn to protect.

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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on January 20, 2009 at 4:10pm

Ron,

Jim is probably drunk at his computer or it seems that way. Amazing that he claims to hold the rank of Captain based on his replies here. Maybe the city of Asheville should be aware of his past actions he's admitting here. TCSS

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Permalink Reply by Joey "BigShow" De Piano on January 20, 2009 at 4:15pm

Never tell a civilian especially anything more than the standard answers..if they persist beyone annoying which as soon as they walk out starts..refer them to the officer in charge of making public response..i.e. chief or safety officer..reason being a lot of news reporters will pose as a nieghbor to get a story line and if you make a mistake or they take it wrong its headlines..in any event nieghbor or not you could always say .."the person who lives here will be happy to fill you in when we are done thank you and please step back from the scene before an officer must be called"..and walk away