Sunday, February 13, 2011

Drunken Watseka Fire Department

 By Gus Swenson

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, not all of them superlatives. While the town of Watseka is in its worst financial shape in history, our fire department thinks nothing of spending foolishly on their drunken night on the town.




23 comments:

Ha! said...

You mean to say a picture is worth a thousand words, many of them slurred.

Diane said...

I wouldn't let any of these shady characters near my house. I'll take my chances with a fire

Watseka Wonder said...

What the hell is that on Paul Parlich's head?

Watseka Wonder said...

I have some fire department party photos that you should put up here. Where can I send them?

What a disgrace said...

All of these idiots should be fired! Where is the chief when this is going on? If anybody had a fire the whole department was in this bar getting drunk!

Anonymous said...

they r nothing but drunks and need 2 be fired

Anonymous said...

Can anybody identify all of these men?

Watseka News said...

@Watseka Wonder- any news tips and photos can be sent to me at watsekanews@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

It looks like this was taken at the Watseka Fireman’s Banquet. These guys put in thousands of hours every year not only fighting fires, but in training, accident rescues, flood rescues, you name it. If you need help these guys are willing to put their lives on the line to save yours! If they decide to "kick up their heels".....I think they deserve it! It didn't cost The City of Watseka a dime. The fire Association raises their own money and there wasn’t an open bar. They were presented with their awards for years of service etc. and had a motivational speaker. I think this was a great idea for these guys to get a chance to get together outside of the fire house.

As for your safety on that night…….there were other area fire departments standing by if there was a need in the Watseka area. Trust me I feel we are in good hands with these guys and they wouldn’t do anything to endanger the lives of our citizens.

If you want to “blast” a department for wasting our money…….look around…..it won’t take you long to see we are burning money in the Public Works, Park Dist., City Hall, and all over town.

Shocked said...

If these guys r volunteer it raises even more questions. What r their paying jobs and how can we believe that they aren't boozing it up there also?

Watseka Wonder said...

To me it makes no difference what type of event this is. These men should have had the good sense not to allow themselves to be photographed in uniform with all that booze. They had to know this would make the news.

Anonymous said...

These guys r all pros? Ya, kicken back is 1 thing but I happen to no the guys r volenteers cuz they couldnt make it thru training. How safe do u feel now? Only some pros in this pic.

Deb said...

"If they decide to "kick up their heels" they deserve it..." Kick up their heels? Hell, they can hardly hold each other up. I would like to ask Anonymous just how they would know if there was or wasn't an open bar that night. Sounds like some damage control from the fire department!

Beg to differ said...

There may have been other fire departments on stand by on the night that the entire Watseka force was drunk. But that would mean extra time would have been needed for them to travel to Watseka in case of an emergency and that would also mean the other areas may not have been able to respond to their own emergencies either. This was just a selfish thing to do and it endangered the lives of those residing in Watseka and neighboring communities. I also agree that this department should be fired and replaced with sober and competent men.

Fred said...

"What's that on Paul Parlich's head?" Not sure bbut it looks like a Davey Crockett hat

Anonymous said...

I happen to be at this bar that evening, they showed up together after their banquet, I also happen to know that they were not DRUNK by any means!!! You can tell what their alcohol level was by viewing a photo? It's a BAR people, people dance, smoke, and drink. They were having a good time, most if not all, SOBER..Get the HELL over it and worry about something worth worrying about!!!

RIch said...

This is not news .we all knows Paul Parlich a is big boozer

Anonymous said...

I see Ryan Truman was there

WENDY said...

The whole town is talking about this. How disgrveful. I printed this off and sent it to the mayor

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like a big deal is being made over nothing. These guys do a great job (which apparently is unappreciated by most who have commented) and there is nothing wrong with what they did. These guys willingly get out of bed in the middle of the night and go out into sometimes horrible weather all night long to protect your family and possessions. They put in a lot of hours of training and the often risk their lives, again, for you and your possessions.

Instead of ripping them for taking one night of the year off (which was covered by other local departments) we should be thanking them for doing something none of the rest of us are willing to do.

These guys don't have to be there 364 days of the year for us, but the choose to anyway. In my eyes, these guys do a great job and deserved this night, and had I been there would have gladly bought them all a beer myself.

Anonymous said...

There are 24 vollenteer firefighters and 4 of them went out and got drunk. Oh no! We must have all been in grave danger that night with only 20 firefighters sober. Over half of the watseka PD drink on the weekend, should they be fired too? They are at least paid by the city. These firemen are volenteer. If you don't like it, volenteer yourself!

Anonymous said...

Well i might think one is tim baker and he already has no licence for dui. How did these ole boys get home. Was there a designated driver. I highly doubt it.

Anonymous said...

Alot of these guys are trashed out drunks,don't lie for them!!2 of them in there are Pat Nutter and Daren Carter!!2 of the biggest drunks you'll ever see!!On a weekend they all love to drink till they can't see straight!Carter is a women beater,is on record been arrested alot for it and is still able to be on a fire department!!What's up with that!!!Nutter vomits in the bar cause he's a sloppy drunk.Alot of pathetic losers on there!!!