American Legion Post 1995 of Centreville recently conducted an American flag retirement ceremony at West Centreville Fire Station 38. Station 38 and Post 1995 have hosted this annual event for the past 16 years. 

Boy Scout Troop 1995, members of the Fairfax County Police Honor Guard and others within the Scouting community participated, as well. They helped Legion members fold the flags and then took part in their official, retirement ceremony and disposal. 

Approximately 200 small- to medium-sized, mostly cotton flags were burned. Because of the toxic fumes created by the burning of synthetic-fiber flags, another 505 flags will be retired in a special burn ceremony in conjunction with Post 177 of Fairfax. The American Legion partners with Fairfax County’s waste to energy Covanta plant in Lorton to dispose of these flags. 

“The purpose of burning them is to respect these American flags, while also taking into consideration the fumes and pollution generated by doing so,” explained Steven Hunter, commander of American Legion Post 1995. “The Covanta plant scrubs the emissions from the fire to significantly reduce pollutants to the atmosphere and, particularly, to those participating in the ceremony at the fire station.”

For anyone interested, all Fairfax County police stations, plus Fire Station 38, have flag collection boxes where residents may donate flags, so they’ll receive a proper and respectful disposal.