Hi everyone!
The Fire Chief from Austin is under fire for apparently delaying aid to Kerr County. The Austin Firefighters Association has publicly accused Fire Chief Joel G. Baker of intentionally delaying a response to aid the flood rescue efforts over cash concerns. They say that Baker didn't deploy swiftwater teams despite state officials asking him to and that he delayed until later in the day on July 4.
Austin's Special Operations crews are apparently state-renowned. They have specialized boats, swimmers, technicians, and helicopters. But apparently the leadership in Austin told them not to go despite the state asking for them 2 days ahead of the flood, when they knew conditions could be difficult. It wasn't until late in the day on July 4 that three swimmers were deployed, and by then many lives were lost.
“We had active boat crews ready to go,” Bob Nicks of the Austin Firefighters Association said. He also said that they were contacted for help ahead of the disaster when it seemed like flooding was a possibility and firefighters could have been in Kerr County on July 3, before everything went to hell. Over 100 people are dead, including 27 children.
Nicks held a press conference on Tuesday to talk about it and lay the blame on Baker, who he said should step down. "We were the best rescue team in the best position to help those little girls," he said. "We made a promise to go, and we said 'No.'" He said that Baker was worried about money and that this was the reason he delayed sending teams.
Nicks said he told Baker that deployment actually makes money and doesn't cost it, but that Baker didn't believe him. He brought up an email that came from Baker on June 6 that said there were to be no more deployments outside their area of responsibility until after October 1. Baker's reasoning was that the state hadn't paid Austin back yet for about $800,000 in state reimbursements.
The allegation is that money came first for Baker, and that as a result more lives were lost in Kerr County because he refused to step up and deploy those specialized teams. The Coast Guard did deploy their specialized teams, and as a result, just one of their specialized swimmers was able to save the lives of 165 people. Imagine what more could have been done.
Baker denied the allegations and said that he was just holding his teams back in case they were needed in Austin. But where they were needed was Kerr County. It was only in the days after the initial devastation that Baker sent more personnel and more specialized equipment.
"It's important that we are able to function and maintain a certain level of readiness in the city of Austin," Baker said. "We will continue to support disasters of this nature, but I'm obligated to make sure that the residents, the citizens of Austin, are also protected."
So what was important for Baker? In 2020, it became clear that diversity goals were paramount. After taking over Austin's department of about 1,100 firefighters, he said that he didn't want people to "dwell on me being the first African American fire chief, because that's not important. What's important is that I'm not the last African American fire chief."
One of his goals, he said was "really to increase the diversity at the Austin Fire Department. It needs to reflect more of the community we serve because I believe the youth of Austin and our youth in general, you will be what you see those young African American, young Latinos, people in the Asian community or LGBT community, if they see more firefighter that look like them, they will want to choose the Austin Fire Department as a career as well."
The Austin Firefighters Association intends to hold a vote of no confidence on Baker, scheduled for Tuesday. If it passed, it wouldn't remove Baker from his position, but it sure would send a message to the people who do have that authority that his firefighters have no confidence in his leadership.
"Our Special Operations teams are among the best in Texas, but because of Chief Baker's refusal to deploy them, lives were likely lost. His decision — driven by a misguided attempt to save money — is unforgivable," the Austin Firefighters Association said on Facebook.