A volunteer fire company was shut down pending an investigation after getting caught making racist comments and insulting a young Black girl killed by police.
Briarcliffe Fire Company Station 75 in Glenolden, Pennsylvania is suspended after a call on January 27th. The call was between three local fire companies to discuss service consolidations.
After the call, the officials running the discussion left, and the Briarcliffe firefighters kept talking on the recorded call on Zoom.
Their insults included using racist slurs against fellow colleagues as well as making fun of the name of a young girl.
RACIST REMARKS: Fire company shut down after racist remarks caught on video callwww.youtube.com
The Briarcliffe firefighters first got in trouble because of how they were talking about their fellow firefighters at the Darby Township Fire Company. The firefighters there are all Black.
One of the Briarcliffe men on the call can be heard talking about Darby, saying:
“A bunch of f***ing [n-words] down there.”
They also expressed disgust at the increase in Black people in the area.
“Black on white, that’s the f***ing problem. Blacks are taking over sh**.”
Among many other horrible and racist comments, the firefighters on the call made fun of Fanta Bility, an 8-year-old Black girl who was shot to death by three police officers outside a football game last year.
The firefighter on the call said while laughing:
“Fanta soda, yeah, orange or Fanta grape!”
When someone else pointed out the girl was killed, the man kept laughing.
They were volunteers. They were voluntarily racist trash.https://www.rawstory.com/racism-2656627844/\u00a0\u2026— Dan \u00abNon-Fungible #Antifa\u00bb (@Dan \u00abNon-Fungible #Antifa\u00bb) 1644550631
Sickening!— Guy Incognito (@Guy Incognito) 1644588014
Fire everyone last one of them. They can't protect and keep the public safe if the public has no faith in them. I'm glad they were busted.— TheCounselingCouch (@TheCounselingCouch) 1644616601
Absolutely appalling https://twitter.com/nbcnews/status/1492031155922743297\u00a0\u2026— Delphia L Walker (@Delphia L Walker) 1644609187
And the comments are even worse than you're probably imagining. Also, they did it on a video call when they thought everyone else had gotten off, so they can't be all that bright.https://6abc.com/briarcliffe-fire-company-station-75-firefighters-racist-remarks-shutdown/11553165/\u00a0\u2026— Myshkin11 (@Myshkin11) 1644611153
When you live in a world where Firefighters mocks the murder of an 8 year old Black girl, you'll finally realize that Separation is what in store. This is why racist people are THE problem.https://twitter.com/incogneglo/status/1492308078120869888\u00a0\u2026— J. Tinsley\ud83e\udd0e\ud83e\udeb6\ud83c\udff9 (@J. Tinsley\ud83e\udd0e\ud83e\udeb6\ud83c\udff9) 1644665632
An 8 yr old black girl life didn't matter to these racist disgusting firefighters. Another example of racism existing in America. \n\n"A bunch of f'ing n****s down there" one said referencing to an all black Darby township Fire company. #briarcliffehttps://6abc.com/briarcliffe-fire-company-station-75-firefighters-racist-remarks-shutdown/11553165/\u00a0\u2026— Lamar_Coupe (@Lamar_Coupe) 1644770561
The racist comments by the Briarcliffe Fire Station 75 were heard by firefighters from the Goodwill Fire Company.
Goodwill Deputy Chief Tim Eichelman told local news WPVI:
“Those things they said were very discriminatory in nature, and that’s not what we stand for.”
Fanta Bility’s family also put out a statement saying they were “appalled” by the firefighters’ comments and laughter about their deceased daughter.
State Senator Anthony Williams and County Councilmember Richard Womack each put out their own statements about the horrible nature of the comments from these firefighters.
Briarcliffe Station 75 is not taking these accusations lying down, however. They are upset the city suspended the station and are working to perform their own internal investigation.
They put out a statement claiming that there's the possibility that the recording could be considered an unauthorized recording without the members' knowledge, which is illegal in Pennsylvania.
Either way, fire company officials claimed that those taking part in the conversation may be subject to internal discipline and possibly be expelled from service.
Many more online discussed the issue.
And a local firehouse was just suspended because the firefighters were on a call with officials, stuck around after the meeting ended, & said all sorts of racist trash about Black residents AND MADE FUN OF THE GIRL WHO WAS SHOT. I hope every one of them loses their jobs.— Nicole M. Wolverton (@Nicole M. Wolverton) 1644593774
Mocking a dead 8 year old girl and making racist comments isn't "a coping mechanism" it's just racism and inhumanity.\nThey should all be fired and barred from any future public service jobs.— Greg Pankow, un "Don Goyo" Anarquista \u24b6 \ud83c\udff4\ud83d\udea9 (@Greg Pankow, un "Don Goyo" Anarquista \u24b6 \ud83c\udff4\ud83d\udea9) 1644615972
Unfortunately that won't solve the problem of racism. It permeates our society. There are large racist groups operating within our military, our political system, our justice system. Nationalizing the emergency services won't help much.— Jimmy Malone, Liberal & Ultra-Masker (@Jimmy Malone, Liberal & Ultra-Masker) 1644683278
The jolley volley FDs have racist folks in them, Long Island too. People want us to treat these first responders cops, fire and EMS as heros, but they aren\u2019t all deserving of the honor or title when they act like they\u2019re members of the Klan.https://twitter.com/lgbtqnation/status/1492241040148811776\u00a0\u2026— rob (@rob) 1644670458
They are volunteers\u2026— laura hepworth (@laura hepworth) 1644653141
Racism is a big problem\nUntil we teach an accurate history about racism We're going to continue to have this racist problem\nWTF Were they thinking obviously not \nSlur-spewing firefighters caught on hot mic mocking 8-year-old Black girl killed by policehttps://www.rawstory.com/racism-2656627844/\u00a0\u2026— Jon Westergren (@Jon Westergren) 1644548647
The Briarcliffe Fire Company Station 75 will remain closed for up to 30 days while the county conducts and investigation. Other fire stations in the area have a shared services agreement, and will be able to handle emergencies in the meantime.