Plymouth Firefighters Say Town Official Interfered With Call

PLYMOUTH, MA — A Plymouth firefighters union is calling a town official's actions "a hindrance to public safety" after they said he followed an engine to an emergency call Friday night at the Bertucci's Restaurant. Plymouth Fire Local 1768 said the official's actions and behavior diverted resources away from caring for an injured woman.

WFXT-TV reported that town meeting member and selectman candidate Kevin Lynch followed the engine through red lights and told Plymouth Fire Chief Ed Bradley he was doing a study on fire department response times. Bradley told the station that the attention the responding firefighters had to spend on confronting Lynch delayed care for the patient, who was suffering from a head and leg injury.

"There were three firefighters on scene to help the patient during the incident, which is already below the national standard recommendation of four," Plymouth Fire Local 1768 Union said in a statement on their Facebook page Monday in response to the report. "Mr. Lynch's irresponsible actions removed (one-third) of the emergency response personnel from rendering care to the patient in order to diffuse his erratic behavior. There is a significant difference between doing your due diligence as an elected official and becoming a hindrance to public safety."

WFXT-TV said that they reached out to Lynch, and he referred them to the Plymouth Police Department.