Georgia Firefighter Suspended Over Accident Victim Video

GRIFFIN, Ga. - A Georgia county has suspended a firefighter for using his personal cell phone to take a gruesome video of a woman killed in an SUV crash that was later received by the dead woman's parents.

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Spalding County officials said in a statement that the firefighter has been placed on "investigatory suspension" while an outside firm determines whether any laws or internal policies were broken. A report is expected at a special meeting set for next Tuesday.

The firefighter, who was not identified, took a video of the injuries suffered by 23-year-old Dayna Kempson-Schacht, who died July 17 when her car crashed into trees. She was killed instantly.

The video spread after the firefighter shared it with his coworkers and others outside the department.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Roth on October 21, 2010 at 9:30am

This fool made it bad for those of us legit fire scene photographers.

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Permalink Reply by Tymothy on October 21, 2010 at 1:22pm

No disrespect Steve but i dont see any reason for a photographer to be on a fire scene where someone has lost their life... I kno if this were my dept it would be immediate Termination...

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Permalink Reply by drew on October 21, 2010 at 4:05pm

I sincerely hope he loses his job and never gets to work in the fire service again. No need for that kind of individual in our line of work. There is no excuse, no reason, no valid explanation for what he did and the chain of events that followed.

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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on October 21, 2010 at 5:02pm

Whatever happened to a phone being just a GD phone?!?!?!?! They're just trouble in the hands of the immature and irresponsible. People should have to take a GD IQ test before they are allowed to purchase a cell phone with a camera.
So what that he didn't break any laws. It's just wrong. Can his ass. Whether there's a policy in place in their dept or not, what he did was wrong, nobody needs a list of rules to tell you that.
Drew said it nicely.

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Permalink Reply by John Dobson on October 21, 2010 at 8:29pm

Just nasty, I feel so bad for this family. WHY??????

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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on October 22, 2010 at 11:50am

Hopefully the suspension is only temporary.
Hopefully, it will lead to a permanent termination!
It needs to cost Mr. Big Shot everything that is dear to him, because this tragic accident cost the parents of this beautiful young lady everything that is dear to them.
For the chance to show off to his "buds", the parents must now re-live the horrors of seeing the open head trauma of their deceased daughter for the rest of their lives and includes the possibility that their grandchildren might see it at some point.
Firefighter Dick Head will move on with his life. Their lives have stopped.
Firefighter Dick Head and his lack of professionalism and lack of common sense is the reason why we must legislate policies.

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Permalink Reply by Ken on October 22, 2010 at 2:10pm

I have been a fire scene photographer since 2003. While there may have been the need to photograph the scene itself, photos of the victim need only be taken by the M.E. Why would he want to photograph the body anyway? Thats pretty sick and to share them... Nope, No way! I would personally like to thank this a-hole for making my job harder. I hope the family sues the crap out of him and he is tossed out of the department.