NY Fire Department Investigates Confederate Flag on Apparatus

A New York fire department is investigating an incident involving an apparatus that displayed a Confederate flag.

A photo showing a Brookhaven Fire Department apparatus displaying a Confederate flag was posted to social media Sunday. The post called the display "disgraceful and blatantly racist."

Brookhaven Fire Chief Peter Di Pinto Jr.called the display "unauthorized" and "condemned (it) in the strongest terms. The flag display involved "a sole firefighter, acting alone, during a non-response event," but because it was a personnel matter under investigation, the department would not release more details.

"The strength of our community has always come from its diversity and our department has always sought to be inclusive,"  Di Pinto wrote in a statement posted online. "We can assure our community that 'Racism has no home in our Firehouse.'"

Brookhaven officials also spoke out about the flag's appearance on the apparatus. On behalf of the town board, Town Supervisor Ed Romanine urged the fire department to act accordingly.

"Brookhaven Town has been built upon a history of inclusion and diversity," said Romaine, according to Patch Patchogue. "Our cemeteries contain the graves of men who gave their lives fighting against this flag. This flag is a symbol of hatred, and there is no place for it, or the racism it displays, in our town."