đ¨ AUSTIN FIRE CHIEF REFUSED TO SEND RESCUE CREWS BEFORE DEADLY TEXAS FLOODS â OVER AN $800,000 DISPUTE đ¸đ
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 Austinâs elite flood rescue teams to Kerr County â allegedly because the state still owed the department $800,000 from prior rescue operations.
đĽ The result?
Entire towns were underwater.
Texans were trapped on rooftops.
And Austinâs boats, helicopters, and trained teams sat idle.
đĽ Now Chief Baker faces a vote of no confidence from his own firefighters.
The Austin Firefighters Association issued a scathing statement:
âTexans needed us. We were ready. But the order never came.â
Hereâs what Chief Baker has said in his own words:
đŁď¸ In a 2020 interview:
âWhatâs important is that Iâm not the last African American fire chief.â
đŁď¸ In another interview at the time:
âIâm committed to building a department that reflects our values: diversity, equity, and inclusion.â
đŁď¸ On leadership:
âItâs not just about emergency response. Itâs about representation.â
đĄ Critics say he emphasized DEI talking points while disaster response readiness took a back seat.
đ§ And letâs be clear â 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.
đŹ One firefighter shared:
âWe donât care about politics â we care about saving lives. And we werenât allowed to do that.â
đ˘ 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.