Clark County fire captain stole fentanyl from station

A county fire captain is facing two felony charges after police said he stole and used expired vials of fentanyl from the medication room at his fire station.

Christopher Burr, 42, was arrested on Feb. 12 and booked on one count of burglary of a business and another of misconduct of a public officer.

According to his arrest report, Burr had worked for the Clark County Fire Department as an EMS captain for almost 18 years. He was suspended the day of his arrest, according to the report, which indicates that he later resigned.

On Dec. 24, Metropolitan Police Department officers and Las Vegas firefighters responded to a 911 call about a truck that had crashed into a wall in the northwest Las Vegas Valley. The caller said the driver might have suffered a seizure.

When police and first responders arrived, they found Burr, who identified himself as an off-duty EMS captain, with medical vials and a bloody syringe inside his truck, the arrest report said.

After paramedics examined Burr, police said in the report, he returned to his vehicle and tried to hide the items.

Five “empty bottles marked ‘Fentanyl Citrate’ were later found hidden behind a landscaping retention wall,” the report read. “These vials were concealed in the rock landscaping by Burr, who had been seated in this location prior to being interviewed by officers.”

Officers completed a field sobriety test on Burr, whom they initially arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of a controlled substance. They also drew his blood, which later tested positive for a “measurable amount of fentanyl,” as well as an antidepressant drug, according to police.

The report also suggested that Burr had struggled with substance abuse in the past.

Metro discovered that Burr’s job provided him access to the discarded or expired prescription medication room at Fire Station 18, located near East Flamingo and Paradise Roads. However, police said, Burr did not have authorization to remove items from the room, as he was only allowed to place items in the room to be destroyed.

During an interview with his fire department superiors, Burr said that he had put the vials in his vehicle, but that he meant to throw them away, according to police. An engineer paramedic asked Burr if he used the vials and he replied: “They were used vials ummm.”

Carlito Rayos, the deputy fire chief, also told police that an audit of the storage room and medication cabinet completed after Burr’s arrest showed that more than 600 vials of narcotics were missing.

An online inmate database indicates that Burr has been released from custody.

Burr’s attorney and the Clark County Fire Department could not be reached for comment.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.