Confederate flag flies over rural firehouse despite funding threat

The Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department, deep in a national forest in Montgomery County, about 100 miles southwest of Raleigh, has flown a Confederate flag outside the firehouse for years. County commissioners ordered the department last month to take down the flag or face the loss of $19,000 a year in funding.

The department was organized as a nonprofit corporation in 1983 and owns the firehouse, but the county provides financial support for operations, as well as two fire trucks. Commissioners said they would pay only for fuel and maintenance for the trucks and would remove the Uwharrie name from the trucks in favor of decals promoting equality and freedom of speech.

Fire department officials couldn't be reached for comment Thursday, and county leaders declined to comment on the dispute.

"The County will take reasonable and forcible steps to try and get the flag removed but will not place this issue above public safety," commissioners said in a letter sent to the fire department.

Meanwhile, the department recently put up a sign outside the firehouse: We Support Equal Rights.

Firefighters maintain that the flag represents history and heritage, so commissioners have offered to pay for a heritage monument to replace the flag.

Department officials told a Montgomery County newspaper last month that, if they took the flags down, they would lose a lot of donations from people in the community.

Confederate flags also fly next door to and across the street from the firehouse, and a number of comments on Facebook support the department.

"This FD will continue on with donations from supporters and will continue to fly whatever flag they choose," says one comment.

"There's nothing more American than taking a stand for your beliefs and refusing to give in regardless of the odds," says another.

Fred Walker, who lives in the area, disagrees.

"They want to say it's not racist," Walker said of the flag. "It's racist. It's always stood for racism, and it always will."