May 15--Two male volunteer firefighters in Prince George's County were found not guilty of assaulting a female career firefighter during an incident that stemmed from two crews showing up to battle the same house fire.
WJLA reports that West Lanham Hills firefighters Chris Kelly and Jeff Miller were both acquitted after facing charges that included second-degree assault, misconduct in office and interfering with a firefighter.
Prosecutors alleged that the December 2015 scuffle broke out over who would enter the home first and be in charge of the scene.
"Mr. Kelly and Mr. Miller were fighting with a career Fire/EMS unit over who should be the first to go into a fire instead of remembering that their main responsibility was to help anyone in need and extinguish the fire, not argue over who goes inside first," Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said when the indictments were handed down in December.
Kelly was accused of hitting the career firefighter and knocking her off the front porch of the home when she tried to enter, while Miller was alleged to have grabbed the female firefighter and pulled her off the porch when she tried to enter the home a second time.
"Providing fire and emergency medical services is not a competition and is not a turf battle," Prince George's County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor said at the time.
