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.

"In Worcester in particular the building was old and the firefighters ran out of oxygen," Neal said. "They were lost in the building. They were trapped."

Chief Burger expects to have 28 new air packs in the next three months, followed by a month of training before they are put in use.

"You have to be able to operate them flawlessly with your eyes closed at 3 o'clock in the morning," said Burger.

Burger says the new air packs are made by a company called Scott which has 60 percent of the market share. They contain 50 percent more oxygen than the current "30-minute packs," which provide about 12 minutes of working time. He says firefighting packs have universal air connections among the manufacturers.

Indeed, Lt. Chris West described the department's feelings about the new engine as being "like a kid in a candy store."

Three more engines just like this one are expected to be in Whitfield County by the end of the week, and extensive training will start next week, West said.

All drivers will practice driving through parking lots with cones and will complete a 35-mile road test before they're certified to drive the engines.

Then drivers where the engines will be located (Station 3 in Dawnville, Station 4 in Valley Point, Station 7 in Tunnel Hill, and Station 8 on the South Bypass) will spend even more time training, completing a couple of hundred miles of driving apiece "before they start trucking down the road running emergencies."

Not only are the engines new, though, but all the equipment going on them will be new, an important factor for the department, West pointed out.

Now, however, there will be seven reserve engines fully equipped throughout the county that can be used as reserve and second-out trucks if needed at a fire.

Each of the four new engines will cost around $425,000 counting equipment, and West was quick to point out the importance of the SPLOST funds.

The new trucks are "by far" better engines and "safer for the firemen," West said. "They're built from the chassis up to be a fire truck, designed to be a fire truck, designed to carry the weight," he said, "so it'll make our firemen safer, just going to make them do their job more efficiently."

Two more new big trucks are also on the way, including a 75-foot single-axle ladder truck and a 100-foot aerial dual-axle truck that are expected to be here in September or October.