An investigation has been launched in San José, California, after a woman in a bikini was seen exiting a fire truck and entering a nearby strip club, prompting the city's mayor to say "heads must roll."
The scantily clad woman - wearing nothing but a stringy white bikini and gold pleaser heels - was captured on video hopping out of the fire truck and walking directly into The Pink Poodle Strip Club. An Instagram account, San José Foos, posted the footage online, which has amassed over 15,000 likes in just two days.
In the video's caption, the poster has written: "Only in San Jose do you see a stripper come out of a firetruck," and a song repeating the phrase: "Don't be suspicious" plays in the background.
Vince Grimaldi - a witness to the incident and owner of a business next to The Pink Poodle - told KTVU: "What do you say? I mean my mouth dropped. And she had no clothes on. And what is she doing inside the fire truck? And who is running the fire truck, and who is in charge and why did they allow this? Somebody is in trouble."
Grimaldi added: "Why was she in there? Somebody needs to answer that. You see that and you say…'is this what our tax dollars are for?'"
The San José Fire Department has since released a statement on Friday (October 7), which read: "It is the goal of the department to serve the community with courtesy and service. As such, it takes all feedback regarding the conduct of its employees seriously."
"The Department has become aware of a concerning video posted on social media. An investigation has been initiated to determine facts surrounding the video," the department's Fire Chief Robert Sapien, Jr., said in the statement.
"If findings of an internal investigation reveal inappropriate behavior of any Department members, appropriate steps will be taken to address the matter. The City of San José Code of Ethics policy guides the conduct of all City employees. All City of San José employees are expected to adhere to the Code of Ethics Policy they have agreed to as a condition of their employment," the statement ended.
San José mayor, Sam Liccardo, was evidently displeased with the incident. He released a fiery statement regarding the publishing of the video, saying: "If the investigation concludes that this video is as bad as it looks, then heads must roll," per The Los Angeles Times.
"We cannot have a life-critical emergency rescue apparatus relegated to a frat party bus, nor tolerate any conduct that so demeans the heroic work of the rest of our SJFD team," he continued.
Liccardo added that he hope Sapien would "respond accordingly," given that he was one of the country's "finest chiefs."
It is unknown whether the fire truck was on call for service at the time of the incident.