A North Carolina county has given a rural volunteer fire department an ultimatum after its refusal to take down a Confederate flag waving over its station. The Charlotte Observer reports that Montgomery County commissioners have decided to restrict funding for the Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department if it will not take the flag down and end a dispute that has simmered for months. According to several accounts, complaints about the flag date back several years. The Uwharrie department was organized as a nonprofit corporation in 1983 and occupies a privately-owned building, but it still receives money from the county to provide fire protection services. County commissioners sent a letter to the department saying they will limit funding until the flag is removed, paying only for fuel and maintenance costs for the two county-owned trucks the firefighters operate.