CLEVELAND — Escaping the heat often involves water in some form, but what happened at a recent block party in Cleveland has the fire department reminding people that its vehicles and equipment aren’t toys.
"People need to take it seriously when the fire truck comes down the street,” said Lt. Mike Norman with the Cleveland Fire Department.
This past Friday, Cleveland Fire was sent to close an opened hydrant on E. 104th Street where kids and adults were playing with water guns.
“People approach the apparatus, were shooting it with water guns and they actually got up on the bumper of the pumper,” Norman said.
The actions were caught on camera and posted to social media. Norman said what occurred put everyone at risk. Fire engines can weigh at least 10 tons.
“You can see the driver can’t see. If you fell from up there it wouldn’t be good for you,” Norman said. “There’s a hot engine inside there. It’s just not a place to play.”
A second video posted to social media also shows people surrounding and squirting water guns at a Cleveland Police car that traveled down the same street.
"We need to give them our respect as a city and not stress out our safety forces with such behavior,” said Ward 2 Cleveland City Council Member Kevin Bishop.
The incidents happened in Bishop’s ward. He called what occurred unfortunate and said too many people are doing outrageous things to get attention on social media and are hurting those who serve the public when there are emergencies.
"I think people find humor in this, but the protection of our safety forces is vital,” Bishop said.
Blaine Griffin, president of Cleveland City Council, said it’s been a tough start to the summer with incidents of people doing street takeovers, surrounding and jumping onto RTA buses and other reckless behavior that disrupts neighborhoods.
“I'm concerned not just about the unruly behavior but because somebody's going to get hurt if they continue to do these unruly events,” Griffin said. “We cannot cede this city to the criminal element and to the bad actors that are doing these kind of things. When I was growing up, I did a lot of unruly things. But there were some level of boundaries, and there was some level of fear that if you went too far, if you did certain things, there will be consequences. And quite frankly, I don't think that people feel that there are any consequences, and sometimes the adults are just as childish as the kids."
Griffin said it's time for people to take accountability on all sides.
“We've given the administration every tool that they've asked us in order to address crime. And at the end of the day, what I would tell you is that we expect for those tools to be used,” Griffin said. “I just want everybody to think about the consequences when you do those kind of things. It may seem fun at the time but it can have dire consequences at the end.”
Norman said it’s not uncommon, especially on hot days, but the public should not be opening fire hydrants. He said it can draw kids near the street where they can get hit and diminish water pressure down the line.
“It's a safety issue for us not having the water that we need in that emergency situation,” Norman said. “And if it was your house that was on fire you wouldn't want the fire department to have as much water as we need.”
He said open hydrants are seen across the city. Sometimes a designated team is sent to shut them off, which eats up resources.
"Hopefully people can find an alternative to stay cool in the heat,” Norman said. “Let's do it safely."
He said residents can take advantage of Lake Erie, public pools, and cooling centers or connect a hose to a home’s outdoor faucet to have fun.
Norman added that the fire department also hosts several social events to interact with the community and let youth see the equipment and vehicles they use up close.
On Saturday, June 29, the Cleveland Fire Department and MetroHealth are hosting an ice cream social at Fire Station 17 at 1918 East 66th St. It’s from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
