Fire vs. police: Tension in Daytona Beach.

Click the image above to watch the story from News 13.

News 13 in Florida says there is tension in the air between firefighters and police in Daytona Beach. The TV station’s story indicates some of it stems from the arrest of Firefighter Adam Silva twice last week on sex charges brought by two different women who say they were assaulted on May 19.

But does that explain two memos from cops that News 13 has uncovered about an incident last week when an 81-year-old woman was found on the floor of her apartment?

According to the TV station, police forced entry into the apartment just before firefighters got to the scene. When firefighters arrived at the apartment there apparently was some trouble. Here are excerpts from the story by reporter Saul Saenz:

But instead of rendering aid, the memo written by a police officer said the firefighter “handed me his blue medical bag saying ‘you guys seemed to control everything, you sure you don’t want it?”

A second memo from the other officer shows the firefighter held up a piece of equipment asking him if he “…wanted to hook her up to the monitor…yeah you guys want to handle everything else.”

Whether there is any validity to the claims by police or not, the fact is the reporter has the memos and they aren’t painting a pretty picture of public safety. Instead of someone in charge for the city taking control of this story, getting the facts out and putting it behind them, the TV station reports the officials are circling the wagons.

Reporter Saenz writes the interim fire chief and the police chief won’t comment. The spokesman for the fire department sent him to City Manager James Chisholm. And even the man in that high position won’t tell the taxpayers what is really going on.

My experience is a response like that will usually carry this story over many news cycles. We shall see.