HOUSTON (AP) - A Houston-area fire chief has fired five firefighters and suspended another after video surfaced of them hazing a rookie colleague who had been strapped to a backboard.
Stephen Whitehead, fire chief of the Westfield department in north Harris County, says the video was brought to his attention Monday.
It appears to show water at one point being poured over the rookie firefighter, similar to waterboarding. At other times he’s doused with food as others yell at him.
Whitehead says the victim of the hazing didn’t want to file a complaint. The incident occurred at the department’s central fire station.
Whitehead condemned the hazing, calling it dangerous and a “blight on our profession.”
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