A Facebook post from a Delaware man last week has miffed several members of the Evansville Fire Department who called the post “disrespectful.”
Jerry W. Hickman, of Laurel, Delaware, posted on his Facebook Thursday a picture of a firefighter carrying a young girl over his shoulder.
“This will be the only time I post this pic. Not a good day. I should title this a day in the life of,” he wrote.
In follow-up comments, Hickman stated he’s the firefighter in the photo and that it was taken 15 years ago.
But the man in the picture is not Hickman. It is Capt. Don Spindler, who has been with the Evansville Fire Department for more than three decades. In the photo, Spindler is carrying a 4-year-old girl out of a burning apartment building on Covert Avenue in September 2011. The photo was taken by award-winning Courier & Press photographer Jason Clark.
FRM/FFN: Indiana Firefighters Rescue Mom, Daughters from Apartment Fire
Adam Bigge, an Evansville firefighter speaking for himself and not as a representative of the department, said Hickman’s claims are “very disrespectful.”
“He’s bringing this up and trying to pump himself up with an incident that was a tragedy,” said Bigge, a 7-year veteran of the department. “I wish he’d just stop.”
Bigge spoke with Hickman about the post through Facebook. After Bigge pressed him on the issue, Hickman reportedly threatened legal action.
The original post has since been deleted.
After several attempts by a reporter to contact Hickman, the Delaware man left a voice message with Courier & Press publisher Jack Pate on Wednesday.
“Someone hacked my email account or my Facebook account. I made a generic statement about, you know, the day in the life of a firefighter and posted just a generic picture. Since then, somebody has modified or altered or photoshopped or something the picture,” Hickman said.
He went on to say that he’s contacted the Delaware State Police and is talking with attorney about civil litigation. He’s offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to “whoever did this,” he said.
WFIE: Hickman’s email to 14News
Attempts to contact Hickman for clarification on his comments were unsuccessful Wednesday.
The post has irked other Evansville firefighters.
Firefighter Shawn Wiethop said, “We do this job because it’s what we love to do. When somebody does save somebody’s life, 99.9 percent of time these guys don’t want to be in the spotlight for it. It’s just part of the job.
“And then when someone else says they saved somebody’s life when they didn’t, that’s what gets everybody fired up,” Wiethop said.
Evansville Fire Department spokesman Dan Grimm said there isn’t anything the department can do.
“Is he a jerk? Yeah, probably. As far as doing anything illegal, I don’t think so,” Grimm said.
It’s strange someone would make something like that up, he said. “But we’re not going to let one person distract from the hundreds of thousands of public safety officials that risk their lives every day to protect citizens,” he said.
Spindler, who received the state’s Award of Valor for his actions that day, isn’t one to busk for public credit for his heroism, Grimm said.
“He’s not one that would take the limelight. He’s one of those guys that says, ‘I’m just doing my job,’” he said.
