A group of Upstate New York fire officials on Monday ordered a department to stop flying American flags from its trucks, calling the patriotic display a “liability” and a possible “distraction.”
(FOX)- Firefighters from the Arlington Fire District in the town of Poughkeepsie removed the flags from three trucks during a ceremony Tuesday, The Poughkeepsie Journal reported.
“If we had to take them down, they had to be taken down the right way,” Union President Joseph Tarquinio told The Journal. “At the time when the country needs unity, to do something like this … it’s next to flag-burning in my mind.”
The flags were a request of the union, and Fire Chief Tory Gallante initially gave the nod for their installation, provided the flags were maintained properly, were safely mounted and the union paid for them. Gallante said a mechanic checked the flags to make sure they were put in correctly.
The Board of Fire Commissioners, however, was apparently not consulted about the original decision and found itself split on whether to permit the flags. Two board members had no issue, The Journal reported, but three members wanted the flags removed, citing “liability” issues and a possible “distraction” to other motorists.
“This past Saturday I saw one of our pumpers on Hooker Ave. going to a call. It had a physical flag mounted to the back of it. None of the board was aware, or consulted that these flags were being affixed to the apparatus,” said Arlington Fire Commissioner Chairman Jim Beretta, one of the board members who wanted the flags removed.