MA Fire Union 'Thin Blue Line' Flags: They're Not Political

DANVERS, CO—The Danvers Firefighters Association has responded to Town Manager Steve Bartha's request that Thin Blue Line flags be removed from all of the Town's fire apparatus.

In a post shared to Facebook, Brian Barry, president of the Danvers Firefighters Association, Local 2038 IAFFI, said, earlier this week, he was informed by Acting Chief Robert Amerault that Town Manager Steve Bartha requested the flags be removed from all apparatus.

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"I reached out to the Manager to discuss, and hopefully educate him on the true meaning and importance of the 'Thin Blue Line' to us," he shared. "Danvers Firefighters and Danvers Police Officers are a proud group of dedicated public safety professionals. We all signed up for a profession that can be incredibly challenging, equally gratifying, and unfortunately, very dangerous. We have always been there for each other."

In July of 2018, Weymouth Police Officer Michael Chesna was killed during what should have been a "routine" call. In response to that incident, Barry said the Danvers Firefighters Association placed the "Thin Blue Line" on all apparatus as a sign of support to the Chesna family as well as all law enforcement personnel here in Danvers, throughout the Commonwealth, and the entire Law Enforcement Community.

"The public safety community depends on our network of support each and every day," Barry explained. "This network, and the need for it, may be difficult to understand by an outsider, but I can assure you it means everything to us on the inside."

Since 2018, Barry said Danvers firefighters have received countless expressions of gratitude by both law enforcement, as well as the general public, for displaying the "Thin Blue Line."

"This is not the first time Danvers Firefighters have taken steps to support others in the community and across America," Barry said. "For years now, we have been wearing red shirts every Friday in support of our troops standing up to protect our freedom and rights as citizens. Those shirts are proudly worn with a yellow ribbon on the sleeves with the words 'Supporting Our Troops.' Are we going to stop wearing red shirts the moment one person complains that we are supporting our troops?"

Barry said he was informed that the Town Manager received one complaint "generically stating that they were offended by the 'Blue Lives Matter' flags."

"The fact that the complaint referred to the 'Thin Blue Line' as 'Blue Lives Matter' flags is a clear sign that they are trying to make this political," he said. "It is not! Danvers firefighters have a long-standing history of supporting all members of the community without bias. There is nothing political behind our actions. In fact, we have been proudly supporting blue this way since long before the recent trends to defund the police. ... This is not, and never will be, political to us. We are simply continuing to show our support for our brothers and sisters in blue and letting them know we will always be there for them."

After much dialogue with Bartha, Barry said it became crystal clear there was no changing his mind.

"The flags were going to be removed," he explained. "He even gained the support of the Board of Selectmen, all before having a single conversation with the rank and file of the fire department."

Barry said he would like to see the flags put back in service, and encourages community members to reach out to the Danvers firefighters if they would like to fly one of the Thin Blue Line flags in support of law enforcement.

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