LAFD Deputy Chief said if she has to carry a man out of a burning building he’s ‘in the wrong place’
“You want to see somebody … that looks like you.”
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“You want to see somebody … that looks like you.”
The LA Fire Department's DEI practices have come under fire this week as wildfires ravage the area with zero containment and burn entirely out of control. A resurfaced clip of Deputy Fire Chief Kristine Larson reveals that her priority is that residents in crisis see first responders that "look like" them and that complaints she's heard about her ability to carry a man out of a burning building have more to do with that man being in the wrong place.
"You want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency—whether it's a medical call or a fire call—that looks like you," Larson said.
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View on X"It gives that person a little bit more ease, knowing that somebody might understand their situation better," Larson said. "'Is she strong enough to do this,'" Larson asked, relating critcism she's received, "or 'You couldn't carry my husband out of a fire.' Which my response is, 'He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.'"
Larson, per the Los Angeles Fire Department page, "has completed a DEI certification program through Cornell University and is participating in the International Association of Fire Chief’s Diversity Executive Leadership Program."
The page adds that the program seeks to "advance DEI within the fire service, with a cohort of members from around the Country." Larson has also "worked in the Firefighter Recruitment Section, the Fire Prevention Bureau and the Equity and Human Resources Bureau," according to the LAFD website.
At least five people have died in the blaze and over 130,000 residents have been displaced from their homes.
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