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JFRD investigates firefighter conduct, racy photos

Firefighter photo 3 (904HappyHour.com)

Some Jacksonville firefighters are coming under scrutiny for some questionable photos taken at a recent fundraiser.

The photos were taken at Whisky River, and some of them show the firefighters engaging in lewd behavior while dressed in their bunker gear.

Firefighters union president Randy Wyse says the firefighters were raising money to help the family of fallen firefighter Jason Bishop.

"We gave a check to the Bishop family last Saturday for $78,000," he says.  "It's an 11-year-old, a 10-year-old and an 18-month-old that we're just trying to help secure their future because their dad's gone."

But Tom Francis with Jacksonville Fire Rescue says the event was essentially a private party.

"The event was not -- I repeat, not -- an official activity endorsed or sanctioned by the JFRD," he says.

Francis says the wearing of bunker gear could be cause for concern.

"There's also the spector of a possible misappropriation of city-issued equipment," he says.

Under JFRD policy, firefighters are forbidden to wear anything that identifies themselves as a firefighter in any place that sells alcoholic beverages, unless working in an official capacity.

Wyse says he's willing to cooperate in any investigation.

"If an issue is brought to the department, they have a duty to investigate it.  But we'd be more than happy to help in that investigation to make sure all the facts are brought out."

Wyse points out that everything was done on the firefighters' own time.  "None of the firefighters were on duty.  It was all off-duty."

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