Firefighter suspended again over flag decal

A Chester City firefighter was suspended without pay for a second day after he again refused yesterday to scrape an American flag decal from his locker.

A battalion chief also might be in trouble, after he refused the fire commissioner's request to remove the flag last night.

James Krapf, 31, an 11-year veteran of the department, disobeyed an order to clear decorations from the outside of his locker, a policy established in August in response to a cartoon that some found offensive. Krapf took down two other stickers from his locker Thursday but refused to remove a small American flag in the upper left corner. He was sent home.

Krapf and union officials tried to talk with Fire Commissioner James Johnson about the matter yesterday before Krapf's 6 p.m. shift. Johnson refused, scheduling a meeting for Monday. Krapf is not scheduled to work again until Thursday.

Union officials asked for a reprieve so that Krapf could work last night, but Johnson denied the request, said Capt. John Barbato, union vice president. The union has worked without a contract since the end of 2006.

"I'm just kind of shocked," Krapf said last night at Chester Fire Station No. 2, where he reported dressed for work before 6. "That's two days without pay. We'll see what happens Monday."

Battalion Chief John Powers, who has worked in the department for 26 years, said Johnson called him last night and told him to scrape off the sticker.

"I asked him if I was being sent home if I didn't remove it," Powers said. "He replied no. I advised him I wasn't doing it."

Powers said he expected he would be reprimanded for his actions, but had not been advised of any action against him last night. He is scheduled to work again tonight.

"It's not my property to touch," Powers said. "It's an American flag, and I don't need to take it off. If it was a problem with work, it should've been handled [yesterday] while headquarters was working."

The clash over the flag started as an attempt to quash arguments in the firehouse. Johnson directed all 61 firefighters over the summer to clear the outside of their lockers after a black firefighter posted a cartoon that some found offensive.

The firefighter, Robert Butler, 48, said yesterday he posted the cartoon, which showed two black men and included what could be considered racial slurs, as a protest.

Johnson, who also is black, removed the cartoon after another firefighter complained. Butler then posted a sign that read, "Black man has no free speech." Butler was suspended for a day when he refused to remove the sign. He took it down the next day.

The directive, which ordered firefighters to keep the outside of lockers "free of alteration," went into effect Aug. 29. Firefighters can keep family photos and other items inside their lockers.

Johnson, who refused to answer questions yesterday, said Thursday that firefighters had two months to talk to him about the directive before he began enforcing it this week. He said that the issue was a "molehill that's been turned into a mountain," and that he would not comment further until all "internal procedures are exhausted."

Krapf and several other firefighters said they did not complain about the directive at first because it did not specifically mention American flags.

"I love my country," Krapf said. "I shouldn't have to remove the flag."

Johnson said this week that he thought the fight over the flag was a ploy for sympathy from a union that has been operating without a contract. The impasse centers on a clause pairing salaries and benefits of firefighters to those of the city's police officers. The matter will go to arbitration but a date has not been set, union officials said.

Krapf said he was not sure how far he would press the issue. The father of a 7-year-old boy, he said he does not want to miss more pay and worries how the incident might affect his career.