HOUSTON --
A Houston Fire Department cadet was dismissed from the academy for what the HFD called offensive and inappropriate language, KPRC Local 2 reported.
The cadet was supposed to be graduating in August after finishing fire school.
"The comments he made was about where he might respond to," said HFD Asst. Chief Jack Williams.
Williams would not go into detail about the comments made by the cadet.
"He was referring to what he might do -- that's as far as I can go with you on that," he responded.
An HFD Captain at Fire Station 80 and the president of the Houston Black Firefighter's Association said he knows what the cadet said.
"I heard he said that he wanted to work at an all-white station, all-white neighborhood, where he had to learn to speak Spanish," said Capt. Otis Jordan.
"When we go to someone's house or an accident, we don't know who we are responding to. We deal with citizens of many classes, different cultures. We are not there to judge what people are. We are there to give our best service they can get," said Williams.
The fire department said after investigating the allegations, officials found the cadet did make the comments.
"We frown on people making disrespectful and racial slurs or jokes. That doesn't meet the HFD standards," said Williams.
Jordan said he believes this could have been prevented, but because of a flaw in the recruitment process, this will continue to happen within the fire department.
"Obviously they didn't ask him any questions about race relations or how he works with other ethnic groups," said Jordan.
Both agreed the actions were taken at the appropriate time, which is before the cadet made it to the streets.
The Houston Fire Department said it costs the department $500,000 per cadet to get them through the academy.
