Four Lake County firefighters are off the job after a response took more than an hour, and a post on the department's union Facebook page sparked an investigation.
The incident stems from a 9-1-1-call to assist an 80-year-old man who fell and needed to get evaluated. It took firefighters one hour and 12 minutes to respond and Lake County Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 3990 President Jason Graham said fire and EMS resources are taxed.
"The system failed," Graham told Fox35Orlando.com. "There’s just no excuse for it."
The man fell six hours before 9-1-1 was called, according to the investigation.
The assigned crew later told investigators that they needed a breather before answering the man's call for help.
Following the investigation, four members of the department were off the job.
One firefighter said he was wanted a break before taking the next call because he was exhausted and having bad day. A second member said he kept quiet during the incident so that he could end his shift at a reasonable time. Both were fired, officials said.
Another firefighter was fired on the grounds that he did not say anything after his partner filed a false report.
The television station did not have any additional details on the fourth firefighter, who resigned when the investigation started.
"Those are the guys that are suffering with the increased workload and everything that goes along with that," Graham told the television station. "The issues are, we do not have enough ambulances on the road… It’s extremely taxing on them physically and mentally."
Video and datal collected from ambulances indicated that two other ambulances were close enough to make the call but did not advice dispatchers.
