As Los Angeles faces its worst wildfire disaster in history, the city’s fire department leadership is catching heat—not for heroism, but for their obsession with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) vanity projects. Deputy Chief Kristine Larson, who oversees the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) Equity and Human Resources Bureau, sparked outrage when an old video surfaced of her bizarrely defending DEI hiring practices. Addressing concerns about female firefighters not being strong enough to carry a man out of a burning building, Larson flippantly remarked, “He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.”
The video, which has gone viral, comes at the worst possible moment for the LAFD. Wildfires have ravaged the Pacific Palisades, a wealthy and historic Los Angeles neighborhood, incinerating 26,000 acres and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Early damage estimates are topping $135 billion—higher than nearly any hurricane in U.S. history except for Katrina. Critics are calling out the department for being ill-prepared, arguing that leadership’s focus on DEI initiatives distracted from equipping and training firefighters to handle such disasters.
Disgraced dyke Kristine Larson implies its not her job to save men from fires because “they got themselves in the wrong place”
She is the head of the Los Angeles fire department.
Is this why the fires haven’t been put out yet?
pic.twitter.com/ecsQq40aEF— Abraham B Eyre (@AbrahamBEyre) January 10, 2025
Larson, who earned an eye-popping $307,000 in 2023 to run DEI programs, became the face of this backlash after her tone-deaf comment resurfaced. “When people’s houses are burning down, they want a firefighter to show up who looks like them,” Larson argued in the same video. Conservative influencer Collin Rugg slammed the remark on X, saying, “Hot take: People just want someone to show up who will stop their house from burning down.”
Adding to the scrutiny, an image of Larson standing alongside Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, the department’s first openly lesbian chief, and Training Commander Jaime Brown has become symbolic of the department’s DEI hiring spree. “This is the leadership team at the Los Angeles Fire Department,” the account “Libs of TikTok” posted alongside the image, which has since gone viral.
DEI: Statistically, there is ZERO chance that the three very best candidates for LAFD fire chief would all be lesbians.
Kristina Crowley Fire Chief Salary: $439K
Kristina Kepner Assist Chief Salary: $264K
Kristine Larson Equity Chief Salary: $399KOnly around 13.9% of… pic.twitter.com/aDcuDw2ly3
— @amuse (@amuse) January 10, 2025
The LAFD’s DEI efforts come on the heels of a series of lawsuits and scandals alleging discrimination within the department. In 2017, six Black firefighters sued for racial retaliation, and in 2021, a coalition of firefighters and activists demanded the resignation of the former fire chief over allegations of sexism and harassment. Crowley was promoted to chief the following year, touted as a step forward for “progressive leadership.”
3. Kristine Larson – LAFD’s first lesbian Equity Bureau Chief – $399,000
Co-founder of Equity on Fire
Got the job by constantly accusing the LAFD of being racist and sexist pic.twitter.com/FTXPrHIxkS
— Daniel Greenfield – "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) January 9, 2025
But while the leadership pats itself on the back for meeting diversity quotas, Californians are left asking: who’s actually focused on fighting fires? Homes are burning, lives are being upended, and the people tasked with protecting them are more concerned with political optics than real-world readiness.
This disaster is yet another example of what happens when woke ideology replaces competence. Democrats in California have spent years gutting common-sense forest management practices, pouring taxpayer money into green boondoggles, and doubling down on identity politics instead of accountability. Now, the state is paying the price—literally and figuratively.
As the ashes settle, the people of Los Angeles are left to ask a simple question: would they rather have a firefighter who can save their family or one who checks a diversity box? Under conservative leadership, the answer would be clear. It’s time for California to put results over rhetoric and prioritize lives over political correctness.
