Florida Day Care Teacher Fired After Extinguishing Classroom Flames

When day care teacher Michelle Hammack briefly left her classroom to extinguish a nearby fire, she probably did not expect her actions to lead to her own firing.

Hammack was supervising children at her Florida day care center job last week, when she smelled something burning and found a small fire in an adjacent room’s oven. Hours after successfully extinguishing that fire, she was terminated, according to local outlet WTEV-TV.

Hammack’s employer fired her on the grounds that she should not have left the room where her students were sleeping, even though she did so to investigate a potential fire. However, Hammack believes that the fire would have escalated if not for her actions.

“I fired her only because she left her room,” Hammack’s employer, Olga Rozhaov, told the TV station. “It’s not acceptable, and if anybody else does the same thing, I will fire again. I will fire them. No question.”

When writing about the incident, The Daily Caller took Hammack’s side, calling the story a “sign that America is clearly wheezing its last ethical gasps.” The Daily Caller also noted that the local Department of Children and Families is investigating the situation, “apparently at the behest of a WTEV reporter.”

A petition has already popped up The Petition Site, with the mission to “write [sic] the wrong that was done to Michelle Hammack.”

Do you think Hammack should have been fired? Let us know in the comments section.