FDNY Engine Closed to Bathe Elephant

NEW YORK - A firefighters union says a New York City engine company had to close its firehouse for 30 minutes to bathe a circus elephant on city orders.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association says Brooklyn's Engine Company 245 didn't want to participate in the photo opportunity with circus elephant Suzie, part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show in Coney Island. But it says city officials ordered the engine company to participate.

The firehouse closed Wednesday while four firefighters and an officer went to scrub Suzie. About 10 firefighters stayed behind.

The fire department says firefighters were only supposed to spray the elephant when it walked by the firehouse and weren't ordered to close. It says closing the firehouse was a mistake.

It hasn't said if any emergency calls came in while the firehouse was closed.

Related
New York Firefighters Did Not Enjoy Giving This Elephant a Bath!

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Permalink Reply by DUST on September 5, 2009 at 7:01am

My station is close to the zoo and we found out that they were going to put down an elephant because they didn't have a place to keep him. We took him in and he lived in the truck bay. Eventually, we taught him to draft water and fight fire here is a pic of him in action at a structure fire!

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Permalink Reply by DUST on September 5, 2009 at 12:05pm

Jim,

All very good points! And really Gonzo served us well and was an excellent firefighter until the day the chief ordered him up to the roof of a working fire to conduct ventilation....you can guess the rest.