As a former resident of the Arlington Fire District and current owner of several properties in the District, allow me to offer some local insight: Two of the three board members who voted to remove the flag are not anti-American libtards. They were elected to the board of fire commissioners (as was one of the broad members who voted to keep the flags) as the Tea Party candidates campaigning on a pledge of fiscal responsibility and open government. Indeed, up until the election of the third Tea Party candidate this past December, the Board of Fire Commissioners had been controlled by spend-thrift union thugs who often operated under the radar and out of public view, and rubber-stamped massive increases in the number of full-time firemen, wages, benefits, travel to exotic places (under the excuse of “training”), and no-bid contracts, to the point where the fire tax assessed against the owners of real property has sky rocketed over the last 20 years. (Twenty years ago, the fire department was nearly all volunteer, and now, thanks to the union thugs, it is nearly all professional.) Indeed, the fire tax is now higher than the the town and county tax combined with a 400% increase over the last ten years.
The flags at issue are 7’ x 4’. They fly from the back of the trucks where the firemen need unimpeded access to firefighting and other emergency equipment. In high winds, the flapping flags could easily interfere with access to the equipment in situations where seconds lost can mean the difference between life and death. There is also the risk of a flag breaking loose during high speed transit, and landing on the windshield of another vehicle, creating a dangerous situation.
Hanging the flags from the fire truck 24/7 in all weather conditions and without illumination at night also violates federal law on the display and care of the American flag.
Lastly, all of the fire trucks and emergency vehicles already have large decals that predominately display the flag for all to see. The flag is also displayed on all uniforms in patch form, and on many helmets and personal equipment in decal form. Huge flags fly from a large pole in front of each of the fire houses in the district.
In my opinion, this is a controversy created by union thugs so that their candidates can campaign on the flag controversy in an effort to take back control of the board of fire commissioners at the next election, and return to the days of fiscal irresponsibility, uncontrolled spending, backroom deals, exotic travel, no bid contracts, and patronage appointments.
I listened this morning to a talk show discussing this situation. They pointed out that the flags were very large and actually could impede firefighters' activities. Armed with the additional information, which was missing in the news article (typical!), I could settle for large decals of the American flag on the fire trucks or a very small flag in a location which would not get in the way.