A Kewanuee firefighter was terminated last week for driving over a hose in January while driving by the scene of a blaze, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
The Police and Fire Commission voted 4-0 to terminate Firefighter Mark Wautlet after Fire Chief Greg Hliniak made the recommendation.
Wautet was off duty when he was on his way home from a bar in the city's downtown around midnight on Jan. 12. While there, the department was called to a fire at the Union State Bank and as he drove by the scene he ran over the hose.
A city ordinance prohibits driving over a fire hose and he could have received a citation, but Hliniak instead sought to terminate him.
Wautlet admitted the mistake but said he didn't believe he deserved to be fired. He will have the option to appeal the ruling.
Hliniak disagreed.
"It could have resulted in an injury," he said. "I would have liked to handle it in the department. Instead, he chose to use vulgar language and drove over the hose and left the scene."
