There is one person notorious here whose fandom for the fire department had him straddling the line between helpful citizen and public menace. For a few years now he has been suffering from a medical condition which mercifully deprived him of his driver’s license. He’s now in his 80s, but dating back to the 60s he always had a bright red pickup truck with a yellow hazard light, and it was common to see his truck at accident or fire scenes, yellow light flashing, and him in the street directing traffic. At first, he would get into plenty of trouble, but the local fire house in his neighborhood more or less adopted him, and the police station took the cue from the fire department and devoted considerable effort to keeping him out of trouble. The crews in the stations here serve in fire stations for specified periods and are then rotated throughout the city, and the city is small enough that his rep was solid. The stories of his adventures are legend. Where did you find the videos?

It’s like there’s this weird blend of stolen valor, the pathetic car salesman from “True Lies,” the Paul Blarts who didn’t make the cut for the Police Academy—and let’s be honest, that particular bar is pretty damn low, cosplaying the power/authority fantasy, without the imagination to pull off something really interesting like a spy or NASA engineer. When they’re caught, they end up facing scorn from the very officers they so desperately wish they could be. It’s like a perfect cocktail of lunacy, tension, and emperors having no clothes…

I’ve never heard of it, didn’t know it existed. Will take a look. I’m betting they’re amusing!