By Emry Dinman
The Spokesman-Review
SPOKANE, Wash. — An orange cat’s now-viral appearance in a pride flag-adorned Spokane Fire Department fire truck sparked cheers at the city’s Pride parade on June 14, spawning dozens of articles and viral videos that swept the nation and racked up millions of views.
It also sparked potential discipline for the firefighters who allowed the cat and his owner inside the fire truck and displayed the “politically charged” pride flag.
“I think some clarifications of expectations are needed when we are interacting with the public during events not related to dispatch incidents, that influence our relationship with the community,” Operations Chief Darin Neiwert wrote in a department-wide email Monday.
As the truck could be seen on video crawling through the parade route, Selkirk the cat was periodically shown lifted into view of the crowd to raucous cheers and laughter.
@selkirk.the.cat I couldn’t stop laughing. #parade #cat #fire
♬ original sound - Selkirk The Cat
Neiwert wrote that the company officer in charge of the truck unilaterally made the decision to allow Selkirk and his owner inside the truck and to display pride flags outside the window, breaking the chain of command in an act of “selfishness” that put the department in a “tough spot with residents, SFD members and council members that might feel differently.”
He argued the pride flag and videos taken from inside the vehicle that went viral called into question the department’s “credibility and significance.” “The SFD doesn’t need to adorn its apparatus with politically charged stickers, flags, signs, etc, because we want to continue our message that we are there for all the community,” Neiwert wrote. “That is why we shy away from making political statements while on duty, no matter how we feel personally.”
But this year wasn’t the first that a department engine has been seen getting into the event’s spirit. Photos from the 2024 celebration show someone holding a rainbow-themed sign and pride flag out of an engine. Spokane Fire Chief Julie O’Berg wrote in a text that she hadn’t previously seen that image.
For some in the department, the argument that the pride flag was “politically charged” was a hypocritical slap in the face from leadership in a city that publicly raised a pride flag on June 2.
Randy Marler, former Local 29 president who spoke to The Spokesman-Review in his personal capacity, called it an “absolute embarrassment of an email masked by ‘operational concern’ while clearly saying being gay is a political issue. “
Jake Schwartz, president of Spokane Pride, said Selkirk added a “special jovialty” to the parade and was scheduled to be at a booth at the upcoming Pride at Perry event, though he emphasized that he could not speak to Spokane Fire Department protocols and praised the fire department’s annual involvement in the Pride parade, both directly and overseeing safety at the event.
But Schwartz rejected the notion that the pride flag was politically divisive.
“The flag ... is always about inclusivity, and I would disagree ... that that was a political statement,” he said. “Pride is pride in our community — I wouldn’t call that political. We’re not just pushing for queer and gender queer rights, it’s for everybody’s community.
“I would encourage folks to not think about Pride in that way, as political.”
In an interview, O’Berg said she was aware ahead of time of the email and hesitated to criticize how it was written, saying only that executive chiefs are encouraged to write messages in their own voice, that she may have voiced it differently, and that the intent of written statements can be easily lost.
She agreed that department policy had been violated and that corrective action was necessary. Even if the company officer had sought permission, she said she would not have been likely to have approved either the presence of Selkirk or his owner, nor the display of pride flags.
The department shows its support for the Pride parade, as it does for all community parades, simply by showing up, O’Berg argued. But the department also has strict policies that can’t be unilaterally abridged, she added.
Animals and people are also not allowed on fire trucks without following certain safety procedures — Selkirk’s owner was not wearing a seat belt in videos posted to social media, O’Berg noted for example. The department also bans all other stickers, banners, flags or otherwise on its vehicles, with the exception of stickers celebrating local public schools.
“In my personal opinion, I think the pride flag is clearly a symbol of inclusion and diversity for the LGBT community,” she said. “We are also agnostic — it doesn’t matter what Julie O’Berg believes ... and I think that specifically with the pride flag, it’s hard not to recognize in recent years it has come to represent a broader social political movement that people have a wide variety of perspectives on.”
She acknowledged that the LGBTQ+ community is “traumatized and raw” from the growing political attacks it faces, but did not believe the department contributed to that with its characterization of the pride flag as divisive.
“Would there have been any less feeling of support for the LGBT community if it was just the Spokane Fire Department truck in the parade?” O’Berg asked.
Responding to the possibility that Neiwert’s email could itself damage the department’s reputation, O’Berg took full responsibility.
“That is 100% on me,” she said. “I don’t believe that, but if people believe that, I as fire chief have to take full responsibility.”
Asked whether issues of breaking protocol could have been separated from Neiwert’s characterization of the pride flag, O’Berg wavered.
“Could this have been worded — probably every single email I or anyone on my executive team sends out, we could say, ‘I should have added this or left that out’ — I don’t want to debate every single word, but could these have been separated?” she added. “I don’t disagree, but this incident happened at this event; we have to address them together.”
The sharp, department-wide scolding wasn’t spurred by this isolated incident, but in response to a wider culture that leadership is trying to change in the department, to which some are resistant, O’Berg stated.
She believes some of the internal reaction was an attempt to use Pride to redirect anger back at leadership.
John Goodman, the current fire department union president, spoke with O’Berg ahead of an interview with The Spokesman-Review . He argued the letter was echoing city policy and agreed that political statements, including a display of the pride flag, should come through the union, not the department itself.
“The policy is up to (the city),” Goodman said. “Ultimately, it’s the mayor’s decision that’s handed down to the chief. Now, is that going to change? It very well could, and maybe it should, and at the end of the day, it’s up to the mayor and the chief and the city council.”
In a statement Tuesday, Mayor Lisa Brown said while she was glad the fire department appeared at Pride again this year, some of its “expectations were not followed.”
“Their presence aligns with their values of equity, inclusion and service to all,” Brown said. “I personally enjoyed the bubbles and Selkirk, but I wasn’t aware of any policies being broken at that time. It is my understanding that department policy prohibits individuals or animals from being inside a fire truck without approval, and that any adornments must also be approved in advance. In this case, those expectations were not followed.”
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