# Is This Video Real (High Firefighter) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392 "2009-10-02T20:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/1 "2009-10-02T20:45:46Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_f0e2aljnE&feature=related) has been making the rounds on Facebook. I call fake - why would a news affiliate broadcast someone who is obviously high? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/2 "2009-10-02T20:53:55Z")
Here’s a hint: It says “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on the lower right hand corner. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/3 "2009-10-02T20:57:12Z")
Isn’t that Kevin James in the firefighter outfit? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/4 "2009-10-02T21:05:58Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Here’s a hint: It says “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on the lower right hand corner. It says “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in the corner, because Kimmel showed that clip on his show. [Here](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/691624/high_firefighter/)is a clip that where Kimmel introduces the video. Seems real enough to me. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/5 "2009-10-02T21:34:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Isn’t that Kevin James in the firefighter outfit? No, I believe that’s “Cousin Sal” (Sal Iacomo). It’s a fake. That’s not a San Diego fire helmet. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/6 "2009-10-02T21:36:26Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > It says “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in the corner, because Kimmel showed that clip on his show. [Here](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/691624/high_firefighter/)is a clip that where Kimmel introduces the video. > > Seems real enough to me. And Jimmy Kimmel really was f\*cking Ben Affleck, right? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/7 "2009-10-02T22:03:45Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > And Jimmy Kimmel really was f\*cking Ben Affleck, right? :dubious: Heh, no. But it’s often enough that the late night shows will show a clip from local news that is stupid or funny in some way. One of Leno’s main things is showing stupid news headlines. The Soup often shows horribly ridiculous clips from the local LA news. The mere fact that something is on a late night show doesn’t mean that what they are saying is false (and it doesn’t mean it’s true either obviously). I couldn’t find a longer clip from the Kimmel show, but I figured after the news clip he would make some joke about it, like how much the firefighter enjoyed work that day. Also, if it was an actor, I would have figured it would be more over the top than that, and he would start saying something about how hungry he is for Cheetos or something. I haven’t ever watched Kimmel so maybe he’s different, but it seems like a lot of the jokes on any late night on the networks go over the top to make sure that every single person watching got it. So overall, it did seem plausible enough to me that it was real. Now that **Nametag** has responded and said that it looks like [Sal Iacono](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fObSStlFSGg/SZzNTD6XYUI/AAAAAAAADS0/b5kU2xmBXhs/s400/cousinsal.jpg)and that the fire helmet is wrong, I’ll take his word on it and say I guess it is actually fake. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/8 "2009-10-02T22:55:10Z")
It’s pretty clear that they took some real footage about a fire at a pot-growing operation, where some firefighters had to be treated for smoke inhalation, then added the stinger with the “high firefighter” using their own actor. C’mon: if you’re being treated for smoke inhalation, you’ve inhaled a _hell_ of a lot more smoke than you do when smoking marijuana casually. Plus, it’s a burning house. The smoke isn’t just weed, it’s wood, and electrical wiring, and insulation, and everything else that makes up a house. Too say nothing of the bulk of the marijuana plants themselves, which are not especially psychoactive. Anyone treated for smoke inhalation from a fire like the one shown isn’t standing around with a goofy smile on his face, he’s flat on his back on a gurney with an oxygen mask strapped to his face. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/9 "2009-10-02T23:09:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Plus, it’s a burning house. The smoke isn’t just weed, it’s wood, and electrical wiring, and insulation, and everything else that makes up a house. I hear that gets you even higher. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/10 "2009-10-02T23:44:53Z")
It’s a fake. It’s going around the Fire Department here as well. Do any of you ever check Snopes or anything before you ask these questions? ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/11 "2009-10-03T00:37:44Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > It’s a fake. It’s going around the Fire Department here as well. > > Do any of you ever check Snopes or anything before you ask these questions? I just used to Google to search Snopes for ‘firefighter high’ and there are no references to this story on the site proper or the first 3 pages of results for the message board. So yeah, if the OP isn’t a member of Snopes\*, this would be a good place to ask. - I’m a transplant from the boards over there, and I saw a few similar usernames. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/12 "2009-10-03T16:40:52Z")
I checked Snopes’ main page before I posted this, but I didn’t check their message boards. Really, there’s just so much stupid out there on other internet message boards; this is the only one I care to read/post on. ---
**Author:** ![J\_Cubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/13 "2009-10-04T00:46:14Z")
[This video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IoCGpP1FSM), however, does seem to be real. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-video-real-high-firefighter/512392/14 "2009-10-04T01:01:24Z")
> [@J\_Cubed](#): > > [This video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IoCGpP1FSM), however, does seem to be real. Haha yea. Didn’t they end up firing the poor guy? > [@](#): > > I hear that gets you even higher. 😃