Embattled Fire Station 16 Honors Mayor Wharton

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis Fire Department top brass claimed it was an event planned long before a public flap over a "joke picture" which led to the disciplinary actions against three firefighters. But, Mayor A C Wharton was all smiles Tuesday as he attended a ceremony which placed his name on a fire engine truck.

In a business where they specialize in dousing flames, the firefighters at embattled Memphis Fire Station 16 warmly tried to extinguish any embers of a feud with Mayor Wharton. From the mayor's reaction, it was another mission accomplished.

Pictures don't always have to figuratively bespeak a thousand words. Case in point, a hand-drawn portrait presented to Memphis Mayor A C Wharton from firefighters at Station 16 simply communicated "Let's Move On."

"We really appreciate everything that you do whether it's at this station or anywhere," said Wharton.

The Tuesday show of appreciation displayed at Wharton's neighborhood fire station on Lamar seemed the right balm to close a wound that began two weeks ago when an unflattering photo of Wharton, linked with pictures of Osama Bin Laden and Adolph Hitler, was mysteriously posted inside the fire station.

An investigation led to the demotion of Lt. Samuel LaCastro Jr., a written reprimand for Lieutenant Russell Dallas and a three-day suspension for Battalion Chief Michael Till.

"It's not a matter of sending a message. It's certainly just a matter of the right thing," said Memphis Fire Dept. Chief Alvin Benson. "We call ourselves a para-military organization. There's structure. There's discipline. There are reasons for doing what we do."

"Spoken with one of the individuals, I won't name that individual, and made my peace which my religion teaches, and moving on," said Wharton.

The official naming of a fire engine in honor of the mayor turned into a family affair as well as an impromptu birthday celebration for his son Andre, who accompanied his father and mother to the fire station ceremony.

Chief Benson insisted the mayoral engine-naming was keeping with tradition and had been planned months before the embarrassing photo incident flap, not because of it. A humble Wharton then took the occasion to announce that his office planned on doing some future monthly programs of honoring of city employees who stand out in their jobs.

"I don't fight fires and save lives. I'm not on the sanitation department. It ought to be about folks who get out there and work their tails off everyday," said Wharton. "It's in the interest of the firefighters who risk their lives everyday."