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Responding to an earlier press release Friday from a Lexington city official, the Lexington Fire Department's union stated signs protesting "brownouts" of fire department equipment are not illegal since there are no plans to place the signs on engines or stations.

"It would be illegal under the city's ethics ordinance for the fire union to post signs concerning so-called brownouts on fire equipment or fire stations, Lexington Commissioner of Pubic Safety Clay Mason said earlier Friday.

A later release from the IAFF Local 526 Executive Board states, "signs created by The Lexington Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 526 to protest the pending Brownouts of Fire Department Apparatus are not illegal. The signs are nowhere misleading and in fact tell the truth. They will be outside of a fire station when a fire truck is browned out. It is in no way misleading and tells a simple truth city officials fail to grasp. The brownouts for any length of time WILL lead to increased response times for fire trucks responding to fires and medical calls and endangering the safety of the citizens of Lexington."

The release goes on to state that, "The signs made by the Lexington Professional Firefighters will be out in front of the station and in no way was ever mentioned to be attached to the trucks or the station. The fact that the Mayor's Office overreacted by threatening this Union shows that they are in the wrong. The protesters will be off duty firefighters and citizens, so again no violation of law. "In fact, I dare any city official to violate any member of this Union's First Amendment Rights when we point out a safety issue."

Earlier Friday, Mason said in his release that, "Because of the tight budget, using brown-outs as a cost savings measure was discussed during the budget process, and it was clear that an increase in the use of this procedure was a real possibility during the fiscal year. "With an unusually large number of retirements, and large pay-outs that accompany those retirements, this possibility became reality," Mason said. "To suggest this action is a surprise is unprofessional."