Firefighter refused call to Tucson shooting spree scene

Wow. Kinda makes you think if he was the type of person to show up at fires and ask the homeowners if they were Republican or Democrat before deciding to help.

Sounds to me he was disenchanted by all political leanings.

Perhaps but you don't refuse to help in that line of work. Do we want doctors, medics, police, etc to aid only those they agree with politically? Why would it stop there? How about religious views as well?

Or sex, sexual preference, skin colour, dog or cat lover, fav colour for a car, gym membership, need I go on?

He was in the wrong. Period. Asshole.

It's obvious he should respond to all emergency calls. And I suppose you could stretch his hypothetical biases all the way down to what colour M&Ms he likes.

Hmm, article is rather vague about why he refused. It was a dumb decision regardless.

I agree. In doing some background it appears that he's a Democrat (since he said he voted for Gabby) and since he voted for the woman I'm at a loss as to what it was he supposedly took exception to.

Ekstrum has been registered as an independent since 1999, Pima County Recorder's Office records show, after being registered as a Democrat for the previous 17 years. He did not appear to be very politically active. The records show he hadn't voted in a primary election in 28 years and his name couldn't be found in campaign finance records as a donor.

Fine. He still said he voted for her so what gives with his angst? Something does not make sense. Maybe he was just feeling (insert name of emotion here) and came up with a lame excuse not to go on the call and was then forced to double-down on it. Whatever the real reason why he did this, people who pay his salary needed him and he failed them. Time for him to find another job.

Fine. He still said he voted for her so what gives with his angst? Something does not make sense. Maybe he was just feeling (insert name of emotion here) and came up with a lame excuse not to go on the call and was then forced to double-down on it. Whatever the real reason why he did this, people who pay his salary needed him and he failed them. Time for him to find another job.He retired 2 days later...

Yep, situation solved. Who knows what set him off, maybe it's legitimate maybe not, but he quit anyway. He said there was too much political jabbering and his views contradicted the rest of the crews. So maybe he was more lefty than them, and all the right wing bullshit just got to him. Ie it's a workplace issue. He could probably have sued for distress or something, hostile work environment, but he did the right thing and just quit.

My thoughts?
"YO! 911-dispatcher here! There is a shooting at the Mall, get your butts over there!!"
"Yeah, HELL NO, I'm 2 days from retiring, I ain't gonna have my brains blown out by some kind of moron, NOT today!"

Maybe, but he could have faked illness and have it go over a lot better. It sounds like he's psychologically distressed for some reason.

The 2nd(?) unit which he was in, wasn't dispatched till 90 minutes after the shooting. They also state that Ekstrum's actions caused delay during the preparatory process, but did not cause a delay of the actual call.