Aye - that's roughly my interpretation. OK, people shouldn't have been shagging in a public place (sexuality aside), but then neither should the firemen have deliberately targetted them - particularly if they were supposed to be on duty at the time.

I mean, what if a kitten got stuck up a tree?

The Telegraph headline, rather delightfully, makes it sound as though the firemen were reprimanded for indulging in "disturbing gay sex".