Captain Arrested: Detroit Fire Department Has 2nd DUI Accident In 8 Days

A recent Detroit Fire Department embarrassment now has a chaser, just over a week later.

A captain from the Ladder 6 company, found to be drunk early Monday after the on-duty crash above, is on unpaid leave and faces possible dismissal, Fire Commissioner Eric Jones tells WXYZ.

The unnamed officer, who wasn't injured, was on his way to a west-side fire at Majestic Street and Livernois Avenue around 2 a.m. He was serving as an acting chief and should have been directing the emergency response, but lost control at Milwaukee Avenue and the Lodge Freeway.

“The vehicle hit the fence, nearly entering the freeway,” said Jones.

He said the captain with decades of service, who worked out of the firehouse on Second Street, was arrested for drinking and driving, something there’s a zero tolerance policy for within the department.

“We are starting our disciplinary process. He is also suspended. The penalty for consuming alcohol on duty is termination,” said Jones.

Eight days earlier, a driver from the Engine 50/Ladder 23 firehouse on Houston Whittier Street was suspended after hitting a parked car as he answered a medical call. When police gave a Breatalyzer test, he allegedly showed a blood alcohol level of 0.108 -- legally drunk.

Read more: https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/27453/captain_arrested_detroit_fire_department_has_2nd_dui_accident_in_8_days