In perhaps the most unexpected, shocking revelation to come out of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, it turns out their Fire Chief is an "LGBTQ+" woman who is obsessed with DEI. Who could have possibly guessed that? 

Of course, I'm being sarcastic given who's in charge. For context, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is currently on a taxpayer-funded trip to Ghana while her city burns. So yeah, her priorities are clearly in line. Crap, there goes that sarcasm again. 

ALSO SEE: The Press and Democrats Mocked Trump Over Wildfires, Now the Receipts Loom Large

Anyway, meet Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley. She has been lauded by the press as the "first female and openly gay person" to ever hold the role. What was one of her first initiatives after being appointed? She started a diversity, equity, and inclusion program focused on recruiting more women and gay firefighters. 

Los Angeles recently appointed its very 1st female, LGBTQ+ fire chief with the goal of recruiting more women & gay firefighters pic.twitter.com/h8vfAYkbiV

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 8, 2025

CROWLEY: I am super inspired.

REPORTER: She took time out of her already busy schedule to tell us about her vision for the department's future, one that includes a three-year strategic plan to increase diversity.

CROWLEY: People ask me, "Well, what, well, what number are you looking for?" I say, " I'm not looking for a number. It's never enough."

REPORTER: Out of 3300 city firefighters, only 115 are women right now. She's already looking for ways to change that. She's quick to point out that doing so serves a greater purpose: Attracting the best and brightest for the job. 

CROWLEY: They feel included, they feel valued, and they feel part of a cohesive team. 

REPORTER: The chief also checks another box when it comes to inclusivity and diversity at this department. She's a proud member of the LGBTQ community.

CROWLEY: That just kind of opens the door of people that thought, "Ah, I didn't even know that that was an opportunity for me."

Whenever you hear DEI advocates claim that their initiatives are going to result in the "best and brightest," you can just flush whatever else they have to say. It's the same thing we hear from the Biden administration regarding DEI and the U.S. Military. Again and again, the actual result ends up being less qualified applications pushed through due to the identity boxes they check. In the case of the military, it also results in recruitment dropping overall as prospective service members realize they'll be discriminated against to push left-wing narratives. 

In the case of Crowley, she spent millions of dollars creating an entire DEI bureau within the LAFD with the express goal of increasing "diversity" within the department. Keep in mind that the department was already facing financial constraints, and in 2024, its budget was cut by $17.6 million.

🚨 As Los Angeles burns, it is important to note that, Kristin Crowley, the Chief of the LA Fire Department, constructed a DEI Bureau and prioritized diversity initiatives. pic.twitter.com/j9PyAlrVt0

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 8, 2025

How much does DEI affect the readiness of something like the LAFD? That's hard to quantify, but can anyone be blamed for assuming that it doesn't help? As my former RedState colleague Kira Davis pointed out, it's impossible to ignore how off the ratios are given these are heavily male-dominated fields. 

The amount of female fire/police chiefs I have seen in the last 2 weeks is ridiculous. Yes I’ll say it- part of our problem here is that we’ve got way too many unqualified women leading entire departments of qualified men. It’s obviously a DEI problem. I said what I said.

— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) January 8, 2025

DEI advocates demand you ignore your lying eyes and basic common sense when they insist these programs have no negative effect on capability. Firefighting is one of the most physically intensive jobs in existence, both regarding stamina and the ability to carry heavy weights. It is not a field where anyone should be prioritizing DEI because that will inevitably lead to people being part of the department who can't do the job as effectively as a traditional applicant. 

That it's become taboo to even say this stuff is mind-blowing. There are jobs women excel in and there are jobs men excel in. That's not a bad thing. It's not a "crisis." It doesn't require wasting money and a "DEI bureau" while proclaiming the number of women hired is "never enough." Of course, there's a point where there are enough because there are vastly more men capable of doing the job. 

Based on Crowley's comments, she'd prefer an all-female department. Does anyone want to guess how that would work out? DEI is a scourge on society, and right now, Los Angeles is currently facing unspeakable loss while its fire department is being led by someone who was more worried about diversity quotas than doing her job. This can't continue.