Posted on 11/22/2008 2:15:39 PM PST by Daffynition
ZEPHRYHILLS - Henry Ben Morgan wanted to save his pets.
Instead, he ended up in handcuffs and at least three dogs and a cat perished in the blaze that destroyed his home.
Just before 11 a.m. today, firefighters were called to 35615 Chester Drive and arrived 12 minutes later, finding the home engulfed in flames.
At some point, Morgan's wife arrived, followed by Morgan a few minutes later, said Pasco Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello.
Morgan started running for the house. Sheriff's deputies and firefighters yelled for him to stay back, but he kept going toward a window.
Deputies and firefighters, according to a report, restrained him so he could not jump through the window and into the blaze.
Morgan, 41, was forcibly removed from the scene, the report states, and was arrested on charges of obstructing the extinguishment of a fire, a felony, and resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor, respectively.
He was being held at the Land O' Lakes Jail this evening. Bail was set at $5,150.
About 20 firefighters continued fighting the one-alarm fire but couldn't save the animals or the home, Ciccarello said.
"It looks like a total loss," he said.
The family of five, including two teenage girls and a 7-year-old boy, are being helped by the American Red Cross.
The fire began between a garage-turned-bedroom and a utility room in the small ranch home. The cause was a worn extension cord that had been run under a door, Ciccarello said.
No one was injured.
Poor guy.
Couldn’t they stop him without arresting him afterwards?
The family doesn't know how many pets they had?
Sorry about their loss, but at least the family is safe, and the gentleman was prevented from getting himself killed or getting firefighters killed trying to rescue him.
I think a fine citation, like a traffic ticket, would have been sufficient.
As much as I love my two cats I would be insane to go back into my burning apartment building to save them.
Maybe they think a fourth dog got out?
Yes, a ticket or something. I know he put others at risk with his actions, but watching his house burn down, with his pets inside, might have made him do things he wouldn't normally do. Poor guy.
Oh, that makes sense.
watching his house burn down, with his pets inside, might have made him do things he wouldn't normally do
Yes, I feel bad for them, too. I'd hate to lose Wednesday and Shannon, and even the darn reptiles! However, if we want the public to provide us with firefighting service, we can't act like idiots. Firefighters can't (won't) just say, "Well, he decided to go in the burning house, so we'll just let him roast," and so they put themselves at risk to save people who are being incredibly foolish.
I'm guessing that the man was verbally and/or physically abusive to sheriff's officers. That would make them mad enough to put a guy whose house just burned down in jail!
Maybe. It says he was forcibly restrained. |
Who knows what he was doing or saying to those who were trying to keep him from killing himself as well?
Excuse me, but pets are PART of the family, too.
Don’t give me that “they’re just animals” crap, either. This family lost loved ones who were just as precious to them as any human member.
I’d run into my blazing house to save my dog, too. And any cop that tried to stop me would get slugged and laid out with an uppercut that’d make Evander Holyfield jealous.
I’d deal with the legal consequences later, but at5 least I’d save my Tojo.
These cops were a$$hats, (as usual), and I’m going to make sure I e-mail the department and let them know what morons and handcuff-happy imbeciles they are.
Okay, whatever. You’re excused.
I got news for you. The firefighters should have gone in to get the pets. The fact they didn’t shows how derelict in their duty they were. Oh, its their JOB to risk their lives. If they’re too afraid to do so, let ‘em get jobs as used furniture salesmen.
Oh, and some cops deserve to be physically and verbally taken to task when they stand in the way of a man trying to rescue what to us animal people ARE family members.
Have a nice day.
And stood there while he burned with his dogs? And then what, when his surviving (human) family members sued?
Would you have watched the mentally ill college student kill himself on live webcam, too, and said, "It's his choice?"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136471/posts
No one was injured? His furry extended family died.
I’d put all involved on unpaid leave and talk to the DA. There’s how many personnel involved to get a cat out of a drain, but this guy can’t go in to try to save his pets? Unreal
PETA should raise hell.
If he was still threatening civil disorder hours after the house burned down, then I agree, but if he has calmed down a bit, is no risk to anyone until his next house burns down, and ends up serving time, then that's just a waste. JMO.
It all depends on the details of the story, I guess.
I side with you on this one. The largest pets I’ve had were hamsters, but my aunt and uncle had two dogs. I at least loved the male dog, Sparky. The other small one, not so much.
As a cat lover, I have nothing but sympathy for this man, but as a volunteer firefighter, I can understand the position of the fire department. If he had gotten in and gotten hurt, the firefighters would have to put themselves at risk to save him.
This is one situation I hope I don’t see a lot of if I become a firefighter.
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