Cincinnati Firefighters Threatened With Arrest In Mississippi

[Box 2565]

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A team of volunteers from the Cincinnati Fire Department are back on the streets of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, after officials told them they'd be arrested if they tried to help the city's fire department.

Caught in red tape, the team had to clear their volunteer emergency services with the governor and the health department Saturday.

Hattiesburg Fire Chief Jim Fiero says a Health Department official told team members Thursday to ignore emergency calls.

The team was kept off the street for a day while officials put in calls to the governor's office and the Health Department.

They were back Saturday morning.

Fiero says if the Health Department order stood, volunteer operations along the Gulf Coast could have been shut down.

He says the volunteers should not be caught up in so much red tape.

The team operates the ambulance service in Cincinnati and brought an ambulance to Hattiesburg.

Reported by: A.P.
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
Photographed by: 9News
9/18/2005 12:23:47 PM