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. Firefighters also placed a blue line decal on the side of the engine.
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. 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