A fire chief from Long Island was caught swearing at a child in footage that went viral on social media. The incident prompted a response from the fire company.
Footage of the incident was posted on TikTok by @chanzillaaa earlier this week. The video has already been viewed over 4 million times at the time of writing.
The footage appears to show emergency service staff standing by an ambulance with a child on a stretcher. The kid is clearly distressed and wailing. It’s unclear what happened before the video was taken, but one worker audibly yells “Shut the **** up” at the child. He then shouts, “Shut your mouth,” as the kid exclaims, “I wanna go home.”
NBC New York claims the worker hurling obscenities is Peter Alt, chief of the North Babylon Volunteer Fire Company.
The caption for the video reads, “She was scared, having a mental health emergency, and instead of compassion, she was berated, told to shut the **** up you little ***** by a grown man in uniform.” @chanzillaaa blasts the Suffolk County Police, saying they did nothing. The caption also alleges that the verbal abuse “went on and on.”
The video quickly amassed over 16k replies, many by furious commenters demanding action. “I downloaded it and sent it to the North Babylon / Suffolk County FD and demanded it be publicly addressed,” one poster wrote. Another replied, “You can tell that one cop that took his shades off didn’t like that.”
The Fire Company Released A Statement Following The Incident
The North Babylon Volunteer Fire Company posted a press release on Facebook revealing that the worker is now suspended. “We have become aware of an incident which occurred last night, August 4, 2025, between a member of the North Babylon Fire Company and a minor during an aid call where the member is alleged to have used inappropriate language toward the minor,” the statement reads. “The member has been relieved of all his duties pending a full and thorough investigation, whereupon appropriate action will be taken.”
The statement explains that the Fire Company is now reviewing its training procedures. “The Fire Company does not condone this behavior and deems it unacceptable,” the post concludes.