Cleanup crew’s insensitive jokes anger town devastated by wildfire

For the people who survived the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, the nightmare of the Camp Fire didn’t end when the flames were extinguished. There are homes to reconstruct, fire-hollowed trees to tear down, lives to rebuild.

So it’s not surprising that the displaced people of Paradise, Calif., didn’t find Rob Freestone’s photos andinsensitive captions particu- larly humorous.

In one picture, the crane operator for a tree-trimming service pretended to jump on what used to be a family’s backyard trampoline: “Trampolines are stupid,” his caption read. “BTW, it used to be called a Jumpoline until your mom got on it.” In another picture, Freestone straddled a mailbox shaped like a firetruck: “I got to ride on a fire truck today.”

A third photo featured Freestone’s reflective-vestwearing colleagues sitting in the burned-out husk of a recreational vehicle. “They’re off on a fun filled vacation to unknown destinations in their new RV,” he wrote.

The most graphic photo features the carcass of someone’s cat with a charred beer bottle posed near its lips and the caption: “Dude ... I was just chilling with my homies, having a couple of cold ones, and BAM ... fire breaks out.”

The photos were taken in November, but the town of Paradise discovered them a month later after they were first posted on Facebook. Incensed residents reposted them on the town’s website and sent angry messages to Freestone’s employer.

Over 17 days in November, the Camp Fire charred an area the size of Chicago, destroyed 14,000 homes and killed at least 88 people. Thousands of others were forced to flee homes destroyed or threatened by flames.

Paradise fared the worst. The town of nearly 27,000 burned from end to end. Freestone was part of the first wave of the recovery, even as the Camp Fire continued to burn in other parts of Butte County.

Freestone’s employer, Bigge Crane and Rigging took action shortly after the photos went public.

“Mr. Freestone has been removed from the Camp Fire recovery effort and we are working with International Union of Operating Engineers regarding his actions,” the San Leandro, Calif.-based company said in an apology about the actions of its employee. “Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. regrets the insensitive and reprehensible actions of Mr. Rob Freestone. Bigge fully supports Paradise and all of Butte County in the effort to recover from the fires and we will continue to do so.”

Hours after making that apology, Bigge announced that they had “identified the three participants in this abhorrent event and their employment has been terminated.”