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The announcement comes after county officials voted to temporarily suspend Briarcliffe Fire Company Station 75 in Darby Township for 30 days as the DA's office completes an investigation, CBS3 reports.
On a Zoom call in January that they thought was over, members were heard using racial slurs and making disparaging remarks about Black firefighters and Black residents, 6abc says. Some of the comments even included the N-word, according to the outlet.
The firefighters were also heard mocking the name of Fanta Bility, the 8-year-old girl who was killed by police gunfire near the entrance to the Academy Park High School football stadium on Aug. 27, 2021, in Sharon Hill, according to the audio obtained by 6abc.
"Fanta soda, yeah, orange or Fanta grape," one member apparently said.
"By brazenly mocking Fanta and her death, some associated with Briarcliffe Fire Department did a disservice to the community they are sworn to protect, thereby reopening wounds from that fateful night when Fanta lay mortally wounded, though conscious, knowing her life drained away,' said Bruce Castor, the Bility family's lawyer.
"To trivialize what this young girl endured that night gives new meaning to the descriptive “despicable," he noted in a statement.
The Briarcliffe Fire Company, however, was unaware that members of the Goodwill Fire Company were still on the call. The Goodwill Fire Company then documented what they heard and reported it to county officials in a letter.
An investigation remains ongoing.
Click here for more from 6abc.
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