When the Journal-Record staff learned of the recent “prank wars” being conducted by the Hamilton Fire Department and the Hamilton Police Department, we first off—found them very funny, followed by feeling proud, thrilled, entertained and encouraged by their skills and ingenuity. We felt this type of good-natured kidding around was good for not only staff morale and stress relief for both departments, but also for lifting community spirit.
To find out more, we invited both chiefs to our office. For space and simplicity’s sake, HFD Interim Fire Chief Matt McCracken will be identified by his first name and then the letter “M.” HPD Police Chief Jordan Carter will be identified by his first name and then the letter, “J.” And henceforth, the JR remarks or questions will be in italic. Also note: Although these are recounted in the order they happened, the incidents were spread over a series of weeks, beginning on March 23.
How did this start? Who drew first blood?
Jordan: Our night shift guys put up a police-affiliated flag on the HFD flag pole at two-something in the morning, because they thought, “Awww, they won’t notice.” Then they get a call at three-something during the night. The fire department pulls back up and they’re like...
Matt: Why is there a flag whipping on the pole? We take the flags down every night. So, they’re thinking... And probably the lieutenant turned to one of the firefighters and said, “I thought I told you to take the flags, down,” right? And he was, like, “I did take the flags down.” “Well, what is that?” And they go investigate and...
J: It’s a Thin Blue Line flag. And then they posted something about it on social media.
M: Then, some of the firefighters stacked donuts up and zippy-tied them to the patrol cars.
J: And they brought us firefighter applications.
And in retaliation?
J: Then my guys put a “second responders” banner in front of the fire station. We used second responders because we have to get there and make sure the scene is secure and everything is okay before they can respond. So, we put up a “second responders are sleeping” sign on a piece of paper in front of the fire department. And we got the score board.
M: They got the traffic sign from the EMA and put a scoreboard on it and...
J: Parked it across from the fire department so they could look at it.
M: And put “Scoreboard—HPD 2 and HFD 1.” It sat there and flashed all day. And that evening, they changed it to “sleeping firemen...”
J: It said “Firemen sleeping. Honk to wake.” People driving by were blowing their horns at the fire department.
M: Next, a fire department flag was put up at the police department.
J: They put their flag up at the very top of our flag pole—so high we couldn’t get it down.
M: We didn’t run it up there. We zippy-tied it to the top of the pole.
J: We had to call in a favor to get it down.
M: They had to get somebody to help who had a vehicle taller than a police car.
J: Also, there was sign put up saying, “Hamilton Fire & Rescue Station No. 2.”
M: That’s when I... I mean, my guys, came up with, “We’re going to get a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts and take the donuts out and put a veggie tray in the box and have it DoorDash’ed to them.” I saw the guys taking Krispy Kreme donuts and filling them up with Frank’s RedHot Sauce and mustard and all this other kind of stuff. I don’t know if they’ve been delivered yet. I haven’t seen any pictures.
J: Yeah, it happened. (Laughs.) I have pictures. The top box was veggies. And we ate the veggies. But the second box was donuts. But they were filled with all kinds of other stuff—they were sabotaged donuts.
M: And then the Mariachi Man came and...
J: We took up a collection among the police department for this Mariachi guy to...
M: To come from Huntsville.
J: To show up and embarrass them while they were eating lunch at Heritage
Chevron. I didn’t want to do it at Los Amigos because then it would be like...
M: It’s somebody’s birthday.
J: I wanted to do it at a different place...
M: I started to get up and go in the bathroom and just hide. We’re sitting there while the Mariachi Man is playing. And (HFD Captain) Eric (Lynch) says, “How do they come up with this?” And I said, “Look at who their chief is.” And then I look over and Erin (Williams, JR ad manager) is recording, and I realized, “She’s on assignment.” I stopped eating while the music was playing, and I looked at Lynn Mitchell (assistant county engineer) at one point and said, “How much am I going to have to pay this guy to shut up?” And not related to the prank wars—but getting in a little rib during the egg drop downtown—we got one of Jordan’s guys to go up in Tower One, and we did a little blurb, “See, we’re making dreams come true—letting him act like a firefighter over here.”
J: It was a police officer in the bucket truck (Cody Holland).
M: Then I had the Easter pictures sent to me of the police officers and they just ChatGPT’d (app that creates images) them to “make these guys be in kid’s Easter outfits.” The community thinks they actually dressed up like that...
J: (Laughs quite loudly.) Thanks for that.
M: Jordan’s mother-in-law said, “Look at Jordan in pink for his daughter.” But if you look at it really close, Jordan doesn’t really look like Jordan. When you use AI, it changes them up. It was running for awhile on the jumbotron at the high school football stadium.
J: It was sent to me from the jumbotron.
At this point in the conversation, Chief Carter exits for a moment, saying he’ll be right back.
Some good reasons
to joke around
Also during this discussion, both chiefs noted there have always been friendly rivalries going on between fire and police departments: historically, nationally and locally. They also noted the great relationship Hamilton fire and police departments have—which is not always the case in other locations.
They eat meals together, whenever possible, where they talk about work calls and their families—learning about each other’s hobbies and lives. They also train together. This time spent together draws them closer, enabling them to build relationships and be stronger together when they are responding to accident or fire calls.
J: My guys help their guys out. Their guys help my guys out. If they’re at a house fire and a firefighter comes out of a house looking like he’s sick or about to pass out, my guy is going to go over there and see what he can do to help, whether that’s bringing another air bottle or anything else. When you work in public safety, it’s pretty much your family. Public safety is a family.
So, even instances such as these prank wars are helping to build bonds between the departments. And because they know each other so well, reaction times can be lessened, saving seconds, which turn into minutes, which can turn into lives saved.
The chiefs want the community to realize public safety is a brotherhood, just like families who laugh, fight, prank—and love each other. And that when something happens in Hamilton, first responders pull together and handle it.
J: I want the community to realize what they have in public safety in Hamilton. I have a great team of officers and Matt has a great team of firemen. I jokingly say, “We don’t make much. But we make a difference.” You don’t get into public safety to make a dollar. You get in it to make a difference in somebody’s life. Our cops are real people, and our firefighters are real people. And they’re selfless and dedicated to helping people and their families—sometimes even more than someone’s own family members. Yeah, we like to joke. We like to have fun. It’s part of it. We’re people, too.
And although the prank wars and bonding times are important to help lessen stress and create greater comradery, the chiefs were asked what happens when officers or firefighters are mentally overwhelmed by some of the horrific and darker aspects of their positions.
M: There are more public safety personnel who are committing suicide than ever before. And it’s because, historically, you were told to “Just put your big boy pants on and let’s just push through it.” Today, on both the fire side and the law enforcement side, it’s “Hey, let’s go over here and sit down and talk about this.” So, even these little practical jokes between fire and police are a mental relief for these guys. Even for those who aren’t in on it, they can see it and laugh about it. I’d rather have my guys laughing about some kind of prank or spending a few minutes figuring how they’re going to get them back than balled up over in a corner somewhere, afraid to talk to anybody, thinking about suicide.
Both chiefs noted there are emotional support groups and peer groups available for counseling, as well as mental health professionals who are specially trained to work with first responders. They also mentioned several chaplains in the area who could also provide help, if needed. Yet, sometimes, they noted, the best source of comfort is right there amongst themselves.
J: Matt brought this into perspective for me. He said, “Who understands what we do more than the people who do what we do?” I can talk to my wife all day, but she’s never been a fireman. She’s never been a cop. But I can go to somebody who can relate to what I do, and we can be with the people who understand us the most. We can sit down and talk with a partner we worked night shift with for five years and say, “Hey, this is what I’m going through.” And that mental health—just having somebody to talk to—helps prevent one of my people or one of his people from committing suicide.
M: We do regular debriefings. I’m a member of two peer support groups. And if it needs to go further, we can connect to those few who are specially
trained. And it is extremely specialized, because the need is extremely specialized—when it comes to the stuff we’re dealing with.
The chiefs also mentioned—in their words—the importance of combatting the negativity and darkness being pushed by many in the national news media, which has seemed to spread to the city, with many people often focusing much more on negative aspects, sometimes creating hostility between citizens.
J: Maybe we’re the ones who are called to shine the light. And to be the joy. To do some uplifting. As police officers, it’s our jobs to fix everybody’s problems. We’re called to respond to a scene, fix whatever problem you have and then go back in service. Maybe we can make some jokes or put some stuff on social media where somebody else in the community will see it and think it’s funny. It’s good to see something positive happening in Hamilton as opposed to something negative. It’s good to see police and firefighters having fun as opposed to just having to stand over a dead body at a scene somewhere. There’s so much negativity that’s being pushed into our heads—negativity and suicide. What if we’re the ones who are called to be the light?
Latest blow
So, Chief Carter eventually came back inside the newspaper office to finish the interview about the prank wars. He had something in his hand.
J: Y’all ever heard of a fireman calendar?
M: Oh, no...
J: What about a swimsuit edition?
M: (Laughing.)
J: (Displaying the pages to JR staff.) It has Captain Lynch, Lieutenant McCracken... (Goes slowly through the whole list of firefighters at HFD, while flipping each calendar page.) And there’s the chief. Mr. December. He’s in there twice.
M: Ironically, there was just enough months for everybody to have a month.
We realize this is the latest prank, happening in real time right before our eyes.
J: This is part of the joke—being revealed right now. (Chief Carter holds up April’s image—a picture of the ladder truck.) Don’t tear it up now.
M: (Starts laughing hysterically at first sight.) Sad thing is, we have shorts like that...
J: You didn’t have your socks pulled up far enough...
M: That’s insane. Second responders (in calendar) again.
J: I always wanted a firemen’s calendar.
M: My wife would like to have that.
We think people would buy these.
M: Oh, me. You think we could sell these as a fundraiser for our training center? Oh my goodness! (Laughs seeing himself shirtless as Santa for December.) Lord, have mercy.
J: My favorite is the long shorts.
M: I wouldn’t dare tear this up. So, to add onto the prank wars list—now, the calendar.
J: And now, the calendar.
And so the friendly rivalry continues. Each player on the team recognizes the other is pulling a prank, but has to accept it as part of the game. The chiefs jokingly leave room for plausible deniability or fully accept their part in the ongoing battle.
We sincerely hope the community joins in celebrating this lightheartedness in these tough times. We appreciate our public safety officials and depend upon them for our lives. For those of us who’ve been there and done that—and realize how challenging, demanding and difficult those jobs are—we are so grateful our officers and firefighters are choosing to laugh, instead of cry.
See complete story in the Journal Record.
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