šØ AUSTIN FIRE CHIEF REFUSED TO SEND RESCUE CREWS BEFORE DEADLY TEXAS FLOODS ā OVER AN $800,000 DISPUTE šøš
119 Texans are dead.
27 of them were children.
And when the state begged for help, Austin Fire Chief Joel G. Baker said NO.
According to multiple reports, Baker refused to deploy Austinās elite flood rescue teams to Kerr County ā allegedly because the state still owed the department $800,000 from prior rescue operations.
š„ The result?
Entire towns were underwater.
Texans were trapped on rooftops.
And Austinās boats, helicopters, and trained teams sat idle.
š„ Now Chief Baker faces a vote of no confidence from his own firefighters.
The Austin Firefighters Association issued a scathing statement:
āTexans needed us. We were ready. But the order never came.ā
Hereās what Chief Baker has said in his own words:
š£ļø In a 2020 interview:
āWhatās important is that Iām not the last African American fire chief.ā
š£ļø In another interview at the time:
āIām committed to building a department that reflects our values: diversity, equity, and inclusion.ā
š£ļø On leadership:
āItās not just about emergency response. Itās about representation.ā
š” Critics say he emphasized DEI talking points while disaster response readiness took a back seat.
š§ And letās be clear ā no one is blaming diversity for this tragedy.
But when a fire chief ignores a flood disaster, and people die, leadership must be held accountable.
š¬ One firefighter shared:
āWe donāt care about politics ā we care about saving lives. And we werenāt allowed to do that.ā
š¢ SHARE if you believe rescue crews should NEVER be benched over politics or unpaid invoices.
Texans died. The help was there. And it was never sent.