DEI in Fire Departments: A Crucial Aspect of Public Safety

LOS ANGELES — If you listen to Elon Musk or Megyn Kelly, Los Angeles was doomed in its fight against historically-devastating wildfires because of one thing: DEI.

The acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion has become the go-to scapegoat on social media and among some GOP officials as proof that leaders of the deep-blue city — including Mayor Karen Bass, the first Black woman to run the city, and Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, the first woman and openly gay person to run the department — let their progressive values distract them from public safety.

The Role of DEI in Emergency Response

Lauren Andrade, a fire captain in Orange County, is deeply familiar with the DEI conversation. She’s president of Equity on Fire, a group that advocates for diversity in fire departments and raises awareness about harassment and discrimination in the field.

She spoke to POLITICO about the politicization of such work in the wake of the Los Angeles fires.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The online focus on DEI started almost as soon as the fires ignited. Can you recall a past wildfire where there was so much chatter about these initiatives while the fires were still burning?

I was working and seeing some of the social media posts and also in the middle of running our own calls. So it didn’t really hit me until I got off-duty — wow. Normally, when these types of wildfires happen, it’s more like, “Hey, we’re here to support. We know they’re doing the best they can.” And if there are any kind of contextual facts — whether there was a water supply issue or something went wrong — usually it’s after the fact, not during the crisis. It felt like a little bit of a scapegoat, if you will, and more finger-pointing than I have seen.

Importance of DEI Initiatives in Fire Departments

Why is it important for fire departments such as LAFD to have DEI initiatives, like its office of Equity and Human Resources, particularly when resources are scarce?

With communities like Los Angeles, which have very, very diverse communities, there are two parts to that. We’re focused on fires right now … but the majority of our calls are medical. When somebody calls 911, they’re in trauma, they’re in crisis. So it’s important for whoever walks in that door for there to be trusted immediately, and one of the best ways to do that is to have similarity and relatability.

I work in a community where there’s a lot of Vietnamese people, and I don’t speak Vietnamese. That’s very difficult when they’re trying to explain to me facts about their family member or things that might assist us in that call.

On the other side of that, LAFD and fire departments in general have had a long history of harassment and discrimination. In LAFD, starting in the ’90s, they did an independent review, and it came out that a lot of firefighters felt that if they ever said they were harassed or discriminated against, that there would be retaliation. [In] 2021, the women in the fire service for LAFD asked [then-Chief Ralph] Terrazas to resign because of the lack of transparency and accountability and frankly, the backlog of complaints that just weren’t being addressed.

In the firehouse, why that’s important is if there’s one person that is on the outs or not trusted, … that’s going to have effects on the mission. So ultimately, it is going to affect public safety and how they can actually respond and mitigate whatever incident or emergency that they’re on.

Reception to Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

Before this particular moment, what’s been the reception like to these diversity and inclusion initiatives? Are local fire departments and governments open to these programs? Are you getting resistance?

I feel like the wind’s been kind of at our back as far as understanding that it’s important to have representation within your community from your first responders. Has there been resistance? Absolutely, and we can see that when you look at numbers. [Women make up 3.6 percent of LAFD and roughly 5 percent of career firefighters nationally.]

It always comes back to, “I just want to make sure that somebody can pull me out of a fire.” And of course that’s important. We have a lot of rules and protocols. We do a lot more team-oriented [work] than people realize, and having people feel included is really, really important in those settings.

Challenges and Progress in DEI Efforts

But you felt like there was momentum in advancing these efforts. Given the political climate now, do you think you’ll face more of an uphill climb?

I do, actually. Before, [it felt] like this was where we were moving — the validity of having diversity among firefighters. I believe it will circle back, but right now, there’s always been a resistance to integrating fire.

Not only have we seen generalized attacks online about DEI, but Chief Crowley herself has been targeted as “a DEI hire” who is therefore unqualified. What do you think of this characterization?

There is nobody more qualified for that position. She is a 24-year veteran. She has held the ranks of firefighter, engineer, captain — I mean, I can list them all for you — battalion chief, assistant chief, deputy chief and now fire chief. Not only does she have the administrative experience, but she also has the field experience. She worked in some of the busiest battalions in LA. So this is somebody that has been very well respected throughout the department, and has worked her way up.

What’s been the reaction from other firefighters that criticisms of Chief Crowley have been so focused on DEI?

I don’t really talk about this stuff when I’m at work, but as far as the rumblings in the room, “Gosh, I’ve never seen a fire so politicized,” was kind of the overall feeling.

Budget Allocation and Future Considerations

A lot of the people on the right who have criticized Chief Crowley also have cheered her on in her public spat with Mayor Karen Bass about the department’s budget. Do you have any thoughts on the drama around the budget and what that says about Crowley?

I hesitate to speak to the budget issue, because, frankly, I don’t have enough information regarding that. But I will say that she will advocate for her people’s needs and I feel like that’s what she was trying to do in that moment.

Probably no one has more political capital right now than firefighters — mayors and city councils throughout the state are going to be scrambling to show they support their fire departments in their budgets. If there’s new money coming into these departments, what do you hope will be factored into their decisions?

Speaking from my personal experience, certain agencies still don’t have restrooms for their women firefighters, or shower facilities. So first and foremost, it would be just to get those rudimentary facilities, so they can get carcinogens off their bodies, that they can use the restrooms, they can change without having to wait.

Secondly, to do some kind of independent assessment on your departments. The job is changing so significantly. So they’re going to have to really look at what this job is now — with these wind events, with it being [largely] medical — and really figure out how to recruit people that are best suited for the public.