Chief defends firefighters berated by citizen during food shopping
The video of the “concerned citizen” who berates Butte County, California firefighters for their choice of grocery stores has now reached more than 5 million views on YouTube and Facebook. And it continues to make news. In the latest story, like me, Butte County Fire Chief Greg McFadden thinks the video shows his firefighters handled themselves extremely well under fire. In addition, no one in charge has a problem with the shopping trip.
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Oroville police and Fire Chief Bill LaGrove said it’s entirely appropriate for on-duty crews, who pay for their own groceries, to shop at Food Maxx rather than a neighborhood market.
“The Wagon Wheel market that was mentioned [in the video] is a fine market,” LaGrove said. “But it’s a butcher shop with specialty meats and is not designed for your full-service shopping.”
An attempt to contact the angry taxpayer at his home was unsuccessful, and both fire departments said he had not lodged a formal complaint with them.
Butte County Fire Chief Greg McFadden, whose firefighters are the ones who appear in the video, said he was proud of them for their calm demeanor during the lambasting.
“I very much appreciate how they handled themselves,” McFadden said.
