The Steelton Fire Department is holding an emergency board of directors meeting Monday night after a firefighter was featured in an artificial intelligence-generated image that borough officials and others have called racist.
Two weeks after being removed as battalion chief for an incident the borough has declined to comment on, firefighter Kyle Sultzaberger is now at the center of controversy surrounding the image.
Borough officials have said the photo, which shows Sultzaberger in firefighter gear holding a sign, with cigarettes scattered on the ground and pretzel-shaped circles hanging in the air, has racial connotations.
Some individuals have interpreted the circles dangling from the truck bays as resembling nooses.
Sultzaberger has denied any racial implications in the image and said his removal as battalion chief and the post are unrelated to race.
“I requested a hearing to speak about everything that has happened and has been going on and has been said, and they literally will not give me a meeting for it,” Sultzaberger said. “If the borough council had such a problem with it, I think we should be able to sit down as adults and speak this over.”
Steelton Borough Council President Myneca Ojo said the borough is focused on its responsibilities to the community.
“We’re moving forward regardless. That has no impact on what we’re doing,” Ojo said. “We’re doing the business of the borough, making sure our citizens are taken care of, have all the services they need to survive and live and thrive in this borough, including the fire service, no impact whatsoever.”
Ojo also addressed the broader concerns raised by the controversy.
“There is a lot of uproar, obviously, but I want to address it from the standpoint of the borough,” Ojo said. “This borough is very diverse, and it doesn’t reflect the community we serve on a regular basis, and we’re just concerned that this is out there.”
Sultzaberger reiterated his stance on the image.
“The borough is saying the image has racial connotations,” Sultzaberger said. When asked if he thinks the image has racial connotations, he said, “Personally, I do not, and a lot of other people who are commenting do not.”
The president of the fire company said morale within the department is uneasy due to the negativity surrounding the situation. However, he and others emphasized that the department is not racist and continues to respond to calls.
Sultzaberger, who was a live-in firefighter until two weeks ago, said he is reconsidering his future with the department.
“Since being removed as battalion chief and this social media post’s backlash, I don’t think I want to volunteer as a firefighter here at all anymore,” he said.
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