Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department firefighters at a Moreno Valley station were ordered Monday, July 18, to take down a pro-law enforcement flag from one of the engines. The flag - which was black and white with a blue stripe through the middle - features the "thin blue line," which is commonly used to commemorate fallen police officers.
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department firefighter Eric Hille, who works out of Sunnymead Ranch Station 48, which displayed the flag, said in a Facebook post that the purpose of flying it from the engine was to honor the three police officers who were killed Sunday in Baton Rouge and the five officers killed July 7 in Dallas.
Hille, who could not be reached in person Tuesday, wrote in the post that in addition to being ordered to remove the flag and stripe, he was told by Cal Fire officials to remove pictures of the flag from social media. Hille refused to comply.
"I find it heartbreaking that we are not allowed to show our support for our brothers and sisters in blue," Hille wrote.
Hille also criticized upper management for being fast to order the flag be taken down but slow to respond to him after he was struck by a car while on duty.
"I wish you were this fast to respond when I needed my (Economic Injury Disaster Loans)/Injury benefits approved by the department which are still denied," Hille wrote. "I wish you had taken the initiative to visit me in the hospital or at home during the 6.5 months I was off recovering to see how me and my family were doing."
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department Chief John Hawkins issued a written statement Tuesday afternoon in which he said officials ordered the firefighters to take the flag down because it did not fit the department's standards.
"If no standard exists, then any size, shape or content flag could be flown," Hawkins said.