Baseball rivalries can often become intense, but they generally involve a pair of rival teams and not necessarily the local fire company.
Montgomery County Fire Captain Christopher Reilly and firefighter Alan Barnes have been criminally charged — three misdemeanors, two of malicious destruction of property and one of disorderly conduct — after allegedly flooding a Maryland baseball field as part of an ongoing spat with players.
Their gripe? Errant baseballs striking cars in the Silver Spring Fire Station 16 parking lot, which sits just beyond the left field wall of the now flooded Montgomery Blair High School field.
“The Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service takes this matter very seriously and is cooperating with the investigation,” Montgomery County said in a statement Wednesday. “An internal investigation is also underway.”
The statement added that Reilly and Barnes “have been removed from operational duties and placed on non-public contact status pending the outcome of an internal administrative investigation.”
The July 17 video, which shows Barnes positioning a firetruck near the field and Reilly aiming a hose from atop the truck, seems relatively cut and, well… Dry.
A Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League game between the Thunderbolts and the Metro SoCo Braves was cancelled as a result of the flooding.
“He said, ‘I wanted to get your attention,'” O’Connor said in the complaint, referring to Reilly. “This act of vandalism was deliberate and caused great harm to our team.”
Barnes’ defense attorney, Richard A. Finci, argues that the “watering” may have actually been beneficial to the field during the time of a drought.
