London Fire Brigade sorry for Shoreditch hipster tweet after restaurant blaze
The London Fire Brigade has issued an apology for a tweet made after a Shoreditch fire proclaiming “no hipsters were injured”.
Falling into the trap of becoming too chummy online - in many regards like last week’s National Police Air Service spy-cam tweet of comedian Michael McIntyre - the fire brigade was keen to share the news that no one was injured during the incident.
Six fire engines and 35 firefighters fought to put out the blaze at a Shoreditch pop-up restaurant early on Sunday morning.
#Shoreditch restaurant blaze early this morning. Thankfully no hipsters were injured http://t.co/LszKAKTpbz pic.twitter.com/6cZPoYZRat
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 19, 2015
Twitter users pointed out half the building was damaged in the incident. As a result the service acknowledged the damage to livelihoods with a more sombre tweet later that afternoon.
Sorry if we caused any offence by using the term hipsters. Hope #Shoreditch businesses are back on their feet soon. http://t.co/KbwVuNPaTf
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 19, 2015
The issue sparked a debate on Twitter – with some defending the fire fighters’ right to make a slight joke and others calling the episode “unprofessional”.