Camp Fire Clean Up Crew Members Fired After Posting ‘Abhorrent’ Images Mocking The Devastation

Three employees were fired after posting insensitive photos taken while cleaning up the devastation left in the wake of the Camp Fire in California. The images show things like a dead cat with a beer bottle in its mouth, a pair of men pretending to drive a charred motor home and a man jumping on a burned trampoline. NBC says that the men were working for a construction company tasked with removing debris left by the fire when they posted the images to Facebook, resulting in an outcry from the community.

The Camp Fire broke out on November 8 and until it was contained on November 25, it burned through 153,000 acres, killing 86 and destroying 14,000 structures. It is the most destructive and deadly wildfire in California’s history.

Employees of Bigge Crane and Rigging were working as sub-contractors for Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Paradise, California as part of the clean-up effort after the catastrophic fire. Three men, one identified as Rob Freestone, decided to take photos of themselves mocking the destruction as they posed with the charred remnants of people’s homes. In addition the insensitive images, the posts also included offensive captions.

“Dude… I was just chilling with my homies, having a couple of cold ones, and BAM… damn fire breaks out,” read the caption an image showing the carcass of a dead cat with a beer bottle sitting next to its mouth.

Another image shows a worker in a yellow vest “jumping” inside the empty frame of a trampoline.

“Trampolines are stupid. BTW, it used to be called a Jumpoline until your mom got on it,” the caption reads.

The town of Paradise collected and posted the images to its page, calling the behavior “unacceptable and reprehensible.”

https://www.facebook.com/townofparadise/posts/2151670054895371?__xts__[0]=68.ARAms7PstZ377EqRCOZawB7MrSIYXvJShtcDNiFKr00CbySViC9tGcc4cwbiKByZO_yny9j7Y9j9UmVF2ODnh3bWzd8Twpgb8Sd8C2ssda7m4tKBQ6LZ9rg3lbqO8aFy5b3dnbHuIClLfq1gMTTWLOoMf1OMiKbTiDf59sUakCvsWbLrNctveLUtedWtAKQAOYgerefZshvwuNVH7vgPniQ0ou9YqcLt4ncPevIDW4sirCXpBwYfyJyylDuu6Ltw0D5ZgNVGYamwYh5atcrxPgpIUspEN_BlNTGK7JF-nTkYmPO9u_Qwy4njggN99XZzwAnWncxOC5QX7Si9mdFO2kqzBw&__tn__=-R

Bigge Crane and Rigging quickly worked to identify the individuals involved in the “abhorrent” photos and announced that they had terminated the employment of everyone involved.

“Bigge expects its employees and contractors to work with the utmost integrity and professionalism. The behavior of these individuals is not consistent with our company values and ethical code,” a Facebook post from the company read.

“Bigge regrets that the residents of Paradise and Butte County have suffered an egregious insult during an already devasting time at the hands of these three individuals.”

https://www.facebook.com/biggecrane/posts/2571498229557055

Although the cause of the Camp Fire has not officially been determined, a civil complaint was filed against Pacific Gas and Electric, saying that the company was responsible for the blaze after failing to maintain a tower near the town of Pulga.