U.S. flags ordered removed from upstate New York fire trucks

An upstate NY town has chose to remove American flags from the back of their firetrucks, calling the star spangled banners a “liability” for other motorists.

Fire Chief Tory Gallante was directed by the Board of Fire Commissioners to remove the flags from the backs of the trucks during Monday’s meeting.

Gallante said he was “very disappointed” with the commission’s “direction”.

The flags are a “liability during normal operations for our people and other motorists”, Fire Commissioner Chairman Jim Beretta told the Poughkeepsie Journal. But Union President Joseph Tarquinio says the board’s decision is “next to flag-burning in my mind”, adding support for the firefighters has poured in from across the country. Others said the display, while patriotic, violated USA flag code. “It’s the flag of this country”. Instead the directive was issued based on the majority supporting the flags’ removal, The Journal reported.

The decision angered many firefighter’s union members and others on social media.

The department removed the flags during a ceremony in Poughkeepsie on Tuesday.

Give proof through the night that our flags are no longer there.

This past Saturday I saw one of our pumpers on Hooker Ave. going to a call. Last month, firefighters in California were asked to remove an American flag in honor of fallen police officers from a truck for fear it would block its lights or make firefighters targets of violence, reports NBC Los Angeles. Federal Flag Code, it states that “the flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat”.