An overwhelming number of Austin firefighters have voted “no-confidence” in Fire Chief Joel Baker. Baker had come under scrutiny for his handling of firefighter deployment to assist in water rescue operations during the devastating flooding in Kerr County.
The Austin Fire Association claimed Baker failed to act quickly to deploy requested swift water rescue teams, resulting in loss of life that could have been prevented.
Early last week, the Austin Firefighters Association proposed a “no-confidence” resolution regarding Fire Chief Baker. On Friday, 93 percent of firefighters present voted in favor of the resolution.
Only four percent, 36 of the 993 Austin-based firefighters present, voted against the measure.
“This vote follows serious concerns over a failure in leadership—specifically, the decision not to deploy lifesaving swift water rescue resources to Kerr County during a time of urgent need, reportedly due to cash flow concerns,” wrote AFA in a social media post after the vote.
The AFA resolution accused Baker of withholding full support from AFD’s elitely trained swift water rescue teams to assist in rescue efforts during the Hill Country floods over the July 4th weekend. The resolution also accused Baker of citing budgetary concerns as one of the reasons for initially withholding aid.
However, Baker previously denied this in an interview.
The resolution calls for an investigation of Baker’s actions by the Austin City Council and the city manager.
“The Austin Firefighters will NOT give up until the truth sees the light of day and all guilty parties are held accountable,” the post added.
“Public trust MUST be restored and personnel and process changes must be implemented to ensure an absolutely avoidable atrocity like this never happens again. This is the least we ow[e] the poor victims and surviving family members.”
Baker is currently serving as president of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association and has led the Austin Fire Department since December 2018.
Baker did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s request for comment before publication.
