BREAKING: Austin Fire Association says Fire Chief Baker DENIED pre-deployment to Kerrville 2 days before flood began
The Austin Firefighters Association said that it was “absolutely outrageous” and an “egregious dereliction of duty” for Austin Fire Chief Joel G. Baker to not deploy firefighters ahead of time.
The fire chief in Austin, Texas has been accused of not deploying firefighters to help those who were being impacted by flooding that took place in Kerrville County on July 4. Austin Fire Chief Joel G. Baker is accused of issuing a standing order “on June 6 that prevented Austin firefighters from deploying to assist those working to rescue people during the catastrophic 4th of July flooding in Central Texas,” per the Austin Monitor.
Baker was accused by the Austin Firefighters Association (AFA) of refusing to deploy the firefighters to Kerr County to aid those impacted by flash floods. The AFA said that it was “absolutely outrageous” and an “egregious dereliction of duty” for him to deny the deployment of the firefighters. The AFA President Bob Nicks has called for his removal and a vote of no confidence will be held online from July 15-17.
The had been an informal request for the AFD to help out on July 2 and then another request on July 3, which was also denied, per the Austin American-Statesman.
“It brings the Austin Firefighters no pleasure to report to the community that the Austin Fire Chief DENIED the deployment of Austin firefighters to Kerrville until very late into the event (so today!),” the AFA posted on Facebook, “with the exception of only 3 AFD rescue swimmers who helped staff help teams (which still were NOT deployed until the afternoon of the 4th).
“The Austin Firefighter Special Operations teams are specially trained for Hill Country swift water rescue and are some of the best, if not the best, swift water boat teams in the State of Texas.
“It is absolutely outrageous that the Austin Fire Chief, Joel G. Baker, would not allow highly trained firefighters from Austin to respond to Kerrville. Because of this egregious dereliction of duty, LIVES WERE VERY LIKELY LOST BECAUSE OF CHIEF BAKER’S DECISION!
“Deployment orders came down from the State of Texas on July 2. We would’ve been pre-deployed before the waters even began to rise! It is unforgivable that a fire chief would NOT allow his firefighters to answer the call to save lives.
“Why would Fire Chief Joel G. Baker do this, you may ask? It was a misguided attempt to save money. I say ‘misguided’ because the fire department is fully reimbursed by the state to deploy. I explained the reimbursement process to Chief Baker last week, and he failed to understand this very simple concept.
“We are disgusted with our fire chief. He needs to be held accountable and fired for his disgraceful dereliction of duty. The Austin Firefighters are starting a vote of no confidence on Tuesday on the fire chief.
“As disgusted as we are at our Austin Fire Department leadership, the Austin Firefighters Association made a decision to not air our dirty laundry while victims and bodies were still being recovered. But it’s now July 7, and it’s time that we hold accountable our disgraced fire chief, AND anybody else in his leadership circle who are responsible for this horrendous act.
“The Austin Firefighters commit to being transparent to the community about this process to remove our fire chief and hold all of those accountable who were part of this atrocity.
“The firefighters hope we have your support, because it’s going to get ugly. I can’t possibly express to you how outraged and sickened the firefighters are that we were not allowed to do the job—the job that we have trained so hard and long to do—during the historic floods that just occurred in Kerrville. We could’ve made a difference, and we were forced to stand down and lives were lost.
“The community deserves a fire chief who cares about the community as much as our firefighters, and that is simply not the case. Joel G. Baker must go!” the statement concluded.
After the AFA statement was released, the Austin Fire Department (AFD) responded to the accusation:
“The weather this weekend devastated the entire region, and the Austin Fire Department is proud to be part of the response effort. The decision about how to allocate resources to help our fellow Texans is not a simple one. It requires communication from public safety partners on the ground to ensure we are providing resources and personnel when, where and how they are most needed.
“The Austin Fire Department must also prioritize having sufficient resources in our own community given the unpredictability of this weekend’s storms and the risk for catastrophic flooding in our immediate area.
“In an effort to strike that balance, AFD deployed three rescue swimmers on Friday, July 4 to serve with the Texas Task Force 1 helicopter search and rescue team (HSART) to perform water rescues in San Angelo, Kerrville and Seguin. On Saturday and Sunday, July 5 and 6, two crews, eight total fire personnel, and an AFD boat, were assigned to assist ESD 1 with search efforts at Cow Creek and Big Sandy Creek.
“An additional six personnel were deployed today, at approximately 9 a.m., to augment Texas Task Force 1 search and rescue efforts in the area. AFD is a strong public safety partner in our region. We will continue to live up to that reputation while maintaining adequate resources for those we serve in our City and neighboring communities.”
Baker is the first black fire chief of Austin, Texas and is charge of 49 different stations as well as 1,200 employees, according to Fox 7. During his tenure, he has also pushed for DEI policies at the department, and 2020, said that one of his goals was to “increase the diversity at the Autin Fire Department.”
As of this week, there are over 100 people that have been confirmed dead as a result of the flash floods in Texas. Most of the deaths were in Kerr County, where at least 84 people were killed, and 28 of those were children. There are still some people missing.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, an email obtained by the outlet showed that the Austin Fire Department had suspended emergency deployments with the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System in order to save money.
Speaking to the press, Nicks said that he tried to explain to Baker that deployments do not cost money but bring money into the fire department. Baker, he said, was insistent on saving funds and did not understand that deployments are not financially taxing.
