The Austin Firefighters Union overwhelmingly approved a vote of no-confidence in the fire chief Friday over a policy that members said prevented first responders from helping out ahead of the historic Hill Country floods.
Ninety-three percent of the 993 union members supported the resolution.
Earlier this week, union president Bob Nicks slammed Chief Joel Baker’s policy that paused deployments of Austin firefighters to disasters for budgetary reasons. He said the policy led to a delay in personnel getting sent to Kerr County before the flooding on July Fourth.
Nicks said the department turned down requests for service on July 2 and 3 and that AFD could have helped saved lives.
Baker said he was unaware of any requests for service ahead of the floods and defended the department’s response. Both Mayor Kirk Watson and City Manager T.C. Broadnax, who could fire Baker, have said they support his response to the floods.
