Briarcliffe Fire Company holds closed-door meeting after racist remarks caught on video
The firefighters who made the alleged comments didn't know other firefighters were on the line.
GLENOLDEN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A closed-door meeting was held in Glenolden, Pennsylvania on Thursday night after a recent video call captured racist dialogue allegedly involving several firefighters.
Officials are still investigating who made the comments, but the Briarcliffe Fire Company Station 75 was temporarily shut down after the audio surfaced.
Action News was not allowed inside the meeting at the Briarcliffe Fire Company, but sources say it was to discuss if any action would be taken against those who made the comments.
Action News contacted several members of the fire company and county officials about the result of the meeting, but we have not heard back.
Some of those who attended the meeting could be seen hopping fences to avoid our cameras, several shielded their faces and others declined to speak about the gathering.
The original video call was to discuss the consolidation of services between the Briarcliffe, Goodwill, and Darby Township fire companies.
When county and state officials got off the call, members of the Briarcliffe Fire Company allegedly stayed on and engaged in a discussion that included racial slurs and disparaging remarks about African Americans in the area.
SEE ALSO: Fire company in Delaware County suspended after racist remarks caught on video call
"A bunch of f---ing n--- down there," one man can be heard saying while discussing the all-Black Darby Township Fire Company. There were also comments about Darby's chief.
"He's just a piece of s---," one person said.
Another comment called the African American chief by a racial slur as the person speaking recalled a time when the chief was in one of Briarcliffe's vehicles to the ire of the firefighter.
"F--- s--- and he's looking in the truck," said the man on the call.
The damning video call also captured someone making fun of Fanta Bility, the 8-year-old girl killed by police gunfire in Sharon Hill.
"Fanta soda, yeah, orange or Fanta grape," one man said on the call while chuckling, even after being told that the girl was shot to death by police.
The firefighters who made the alleged comments didn't know other firefighters were on the line from the Goodwill Fire Company. One of them was Deputy Chief Tim Eichelman.
"Those things they said were very discriminatory in nature, and that's not what we stand for," said Eichelman.
The Briarcliffe Fire Company remains shut down pending the investigation.
The next Darby Township meeting is scheduled for March 9, but it will be probably be moved to the high school due to the large public interest in these proceedings.
