Macon-Bibb County Fire Chief Marvin Riggins’ initial punishment for a supervisor in a firehouse hazing prank was minimal, even though an investigator’s report in the case noted that she was fully involved in the caper.

That supervisor, Stephanie Burke, had told Riggins she was not directly involved in the prank, according to a copy of the statement she gave during the ensuing investigation.

Those findings and more were part of documents that The Telegraph reviewed after filing an Open Records Act request with the city about the probe. Those records provide additional details about the Sept. 18 prank that has resulted in one firefighter being fired and two others being demoted.

In a Sept. 19 written statement, then-Capt. Burke said she had heard talk of firefighters playing a joke on a rookie at her Peake Road station. But when a masked gunman entered the station, she said, she was as surprised as the rookie.

“I ran to get away,” she wrote.

After recognizing that fellow firefighter Christopher Houston was a part of the hoax, she realized the gunman’s presence was simply a prank, she said.

From her standpoint, the firefighters appeared to be playing the joke on her, she wrote.

In her statement, Burke apologized for not “cutting this situation off at the path,” and wrote “whatever my punishment is, just know I was not directly involved.”

A phone message left for Burke late Wednesday was not immediately returned.

Fire Capt. Tom Musselwhite wrote in his investigative report, dated Sept. 20, that in his opinion, all the firefighters involved in the prank were knowing participants except for the rookies.

Riggins admitted Wednesday that he didn’t believe Burke was a knowing participant in the hoax when he ordered her to be punished with two days of suspension while other firefighters involved in the video received punishments ranging from longer unpaid suspensions to demotion and termination.

“I trusted my firefighters and my officers to tell me the truth,” he said.

For someone to be an officer means that they carry not only rank, but also responsibility and accountability, he said.

“It means a lot, and you don’t take that lightly,” Riggins said.

It wasn’t until after other firefighters presented new evidence in appealing their punishments that Riggins became convinced that Burke was a willing participant in the hoax, and her punishment was increased to include a demotion to the rank of lieutenant and two-month suspension, he said.

New evidence included a longer version of the video and text messages that implicated Burke in planning the stunt.

The change in punishment wasn’t solely based on Burke’s involvement or that she wasn’t truthful. The punishment was based on a totality of circumstances, Riggins said.

After her suspension is served, Burke will be transferred to the department’s fire prevention division. Her position at the Peake Road station already has been filled, said mayoral spokesman Clay Murphey.

Burke and three other firefighters -- Christopher Hughes, Joshua Brewer and Jessie White -- have asked that their cases be heard by an administrative law judge, but hearing dates have not been scheduled.

Hughes, the firefighter who provided a BB gun for the stunt, faces termination.

Brewer, a sergeant at the time of the prank, has been demoted and suspended.

In his Sept. 19 statement, Brewer admitted that he recorded the hoax on video using his cell phone. When other people requested a copy, he tried to distribute it via e-mail but was unsuccessful.

That’s when he tried to post it privately on YouTube, but the video was posted publicly instead, he wrote.

White wrote in his statement that the prank was set up in an “orderly fashion” to avoid anyone being harmed.

Christopher Houston, one of the firefighters suspended without pay, wrote in his statement that Hughes asked him to participate in a prank based on a scenario of a killer escaping near a firehouse.

“He told me just put ketchup on a white shirt and pretend I was hurt and that was it,” Houston wrote. “I figured it would be harmless enough because I have heard of this prank before.”

Among the eight firefighters punished were two supervisors who received administrative punishments short of suspension. They were punished because it was their responsibility to manage firefighters involved in the prank although they weren’t directly involved, city officials have said.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.