The Austin Firefighters Association voted 93% in favor of a no-confidence resolution against Fire Chief Joel Baker on Friday, citing failures in response to Texas's deadly Independence Day flooding. The vote followed criticism over Baker's refusal to deploy swift water rescue teams ahead of the disaster, despite requests from Texas Task Force 1.
The Austin Firefighters Association plans to hold a vote of no confidence in Fire Chief Joel G. Baker following his failure to deploy emergency teams to Kerr County ahead of the deadly July 4 floods. The decision follows growing outrage that Baker did not respond to the state's request to send Austin's specialized units, reportedly due to an $800,000 reimbursement delay from past state deployments.
