Parade revelers displeased after being sprayed with fire extinguisher Fat Tuesday
By Ariel Mallory
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — Some parade revelers got a little more than they bargained for on Fat Tuesday.
Cell phone video captured a float rider spraying a fire extinguisher into the crowd during the King Felix parade.
They weren’t too happy about it.
Kristen Perez says she was marching with a band that was right behind the float when it happened.
She says the wind blew the chemicals from the extinguisher right into their face and doesn’t think it was an appropriate action.
“It was not a very pleasant experience and it could’ve very easily been avoided,” Perez said.
A parade reveler pulled out their phone and recorded the whole encounter.
This happened on Fat Tuesday during the King Felix III parade.
Perez says she and several other people she was marching with were unfortunately right behind it.
“A guy on the float ahead of us pulled a fire extinguisher, sprayed it into the crowd, and then what came out of the extinguisher then blew back onto us into the band,” Perez said.
In the video you can see several people putting their arms up and telling the float rider not to do it.
At one point you see the crowd start throwing items back at the float.
Perez says several of the band members took a direct hit from the extinguisher chemicals.
“From there it blew into our mouths, our eyes, the instruments,” Perez said. “It blew in my mouth enough that I could feel it and taste it. And then my daughter complained of it getting into her eyes and various band members also complained about it being in their face.”
An official with Mobile Fire-Rescue says they didn’t respond to any calls of anyone having breathing difficulty during the parade.
But emphasized an extinguisher is not something to be played with.
“It’s not a toy. It’s not something that people should consider playing with,” Public Information Officer Steven Millhouse said. “It could cause breathing difficulty in the event that you have a pre-existing respiratory condition. It’s possible that breathing in the ammonia phosphate could exacerbate that condition.”
Perez says they did eventually witness a police officer take the fire extinguisher away.
She hopes in the future people will be more mindful of things like this.
“You can have fun and not endanger others, it could have been worse,” she said. “I hope that maybe parade organizers warn their people in their organizations of behaviors like this.”
FOX 10 News reached out to Mobile Police to ask if they got involved, but was told the matter was handled by the float’s organization.
We were unable to get in touch with anyone from the association.
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