Austin firefighters union: 93% voted 'no confidence' in chief over flood response

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Firefighters Association has delivered a vote of no confidence in the Austin Fire Department's chief, following accusations by top union leadership he delayed emergency response to deadly flooding in the Texas Hill Country.

According to a post on the union's social media account on Friday evening, "an overwhelming 93% of Austin firefighters (927 votes) cast a vote of no confidence in Fire Chief Joel G. Baker. Only 4% (36 votes) opposed."

The post went on to say, "This is not about politics. It’s about accountability and protecting public safety."

Earlier this week, the union began voting on a resolution, which stated "The Association hereby declares that Chief Joel G. Baker has forfeited our confidence to lead the Austin Fire Department." The resolution also called for the Austin City Manager, mayor and city council to thoroughly investigate the chief’s decisions and take “appropriate measures.”

Baker insisted there was no delay and said his department has "absolutely" done everything it can to respond to recent flood disasters across Central Texas.

"Almost 40 years I've been in the fire service and public safety, so it's really disingenuous of the union — for anyone — to think, as the fire chief of Austin or as a public servant, that I would intentionally delay or would delay response to help rescue any individual, anyone who is facing disaster. That's just not true. That's not who I am. That's not who the city of Austin is," Baker said.

Top city leadership has supported the chief, with both the city manager and the mayor saying they were "disappointed" in the union's response. When KXAN asked both offices for a response to the results of the union vote, they reiterated previous statements about the situation.

In its post on social media, the association insisted AFD leadership failed the public and called for "a full investigation" into the decisions made leading up to the disaster. The post reads, "The firefighters will not stop until every responsible party is held accountable and systemic changes are made to prevent such a tragedy from happening again."

The union's president, Bob Nicks, has asserted a June directive from AFD leadership caused local first responders to allegedly refuse deployment calls to Kerr County, ahead of deadly flooding on Independence Day weekend. As of of Thursday, officials confirmed 96 people had died in Kerr County alone, and 161 people there were still missing.

During an emergency meeting of union members on Tuesday, Nicks' voice broke as he said, "I don't even have the words. Our firefighters are trained for that area. Our firefighters have the equipment. They have the will; they have the desire. The have the power to go and actually — I know some of those girls could have survived if we had the best boat crew on scene the day before. I know it."

In an interview earlier this week with KXAN, Baker said he was made aware of deployment requests for five individuals within his department on July 4 from the state. He said three rescue swimmers were deployed; a request for a dispatcher was denied and an assistant chief chose not to deploy. The chief explained his reasoning.

“I was not sure how much of the weather would impact my city — the city of Austin. I need to make sure that I have an adequate amount of resources within the city so I can respond for my mutual aid calls and my automatic aid calls around the city of Austin,” Baker said.

He also said, "To say that — 'Why Austin Fire didn't send a X amount of firefighters out?' That's not a fair statement. That's not really a fair assessment of the Austin Fire Department. It's a collaborative effort with various fire departments throughout the state to send resources when they can to assist with disaster."

You can read more of his response and see background on this story here.

This is a developing story. KXAN will update this as more details become available.