Curious neighbors dime firefighters

From KRQE-TV.com - RIO RANCHO - There was no smoke, no fire and no emergency. Nonetheless, a big fire truck was parked in a Rio Rancho neighborhood for more than two hours Saturday. Neighborhood residents initially were buzzing with concern. But those concerns soon turned to suspicions the longer the fire engine remained parked by the side of the road. But when neighbors looked closer, they noticed the truck wasn't even from the Rio Rancho Fire Department. It was from the Albuquerque Fire Department. Residents snapped several photos of the truck parked on the street. It turns out the crew with a driver, a lieutenant and two firefighters received permission from their battalion chief to go to one of their houses to fix a broken water pipe. But AFD Fire Chief Jim Breen said the firefighter lied about the location of his house, saying it was in Albuquerque and within Station 27's district on the far west side. The chief said if the bosses had known, it never would have been approved. The crew wasn't honest with the firefighter's neighbors in Rio Rancho either. When one asked a firefighter what they were doing in the neighborhood, he said they were checking out a “smoke complaint” a neighbor told News 13. It's unclear if the firefighters were fixing the water leak for the entire time they were in the Rio Rancho neighborhood. It may be just a coincidence that it was about the same time the Denver Broncos-New England Patriots NFL playoff game was on TV. Even though the crew was out of its jurisdiction for more than two hours and was seven miles from their station, it remained on dispatch's call list. That means there would have been a delay if they had to respond to a fire in their district, possibly putting city residents at risk. Read more

Curious neighbors dime firefighters