Talk:Gregore J. Sambor
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Unsourced, uncorroborated and potentially libelous statement
[edit]Firefighters stood by and allowed the resulting fire to destroy 65 houses, although Sambor urged them to put it out. The fire department would not listen, saying they would only accept orders from the Fire Chief.
This statement does not appear to come from any of the sources cited in the article, directly placing the blame for destruction and loss of life on the firefighters, making them appear passive and cowardly. More importantly, it's directly contradicted by the article's own subject, cited within its NPR source:
The fire seemed to be getting bigger, but the firefighters were ordered by Sambor, the police commissioner, to stand down. ("I communicated ... that I would like to let the fire burn," he later told the city commission.)
The article omits the central context of Sambor's decision; firefighters arriving on the scene were hampered by members of MOVE directly firing on them (neither collateral damage nor stray fire aimed at police). While there are contradictory accounts of the events of that day, most eyewitness accounts affirm MOVE's bizarre attack on the PFD. No one can be sure as to MOVE's motive for firing on them, but a recurring theory is that MOVE believed the PFD were actually disguised police in order to successfully enter the premises.
Until the article can resolve the discrepancy between the subject's own (self-incriminating) statement of responsibility for the firefighters standing down and/or provide evidence to the contrary, I'm removing the inflammatory statement.
On a secondary note, Ramona Africa is not an unbiased source and her statement that the police were firing on anyone who attempted to leave the building should probably be corroborated rather than stated as fact.