Firefighter Loses Job For Burger Stop

AUSTIN (AP) – An Austin firefighter who stopped to pick up a hamburger before rushing to help a woman in respiratory distress has been fired.

Officials say Michael Pooler’s decision to stop at the Burger House next to his fire station before jumping onto a fire truck delayed the emergency response by two minutes.

The 911 call originated from a medical clinic. In an audio recording of the call, a clinic employee told a dispatcher that the patient was a 77-year-old woman who was having difficulty talking and breathing at the same time.

The Austin American-Statesman reports the patient’s condition was not known.

Fire Department spokeswoman Michelle DeCrane said paramedics from Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services reached the patient before firefighters.

Pooler declined through a union representative to comment on the firing.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)