Los Angeles Fire Department’s diversity chief blames fire victims in shocking viral video defending DEI

A shocking video shows the leader of diversity, equity and inclusion at the Los Angeles Fire Department appearing to blame helpless fire victims as massive fires continue to rage through the City of Angels.

In the PR video that resurfaced from 2019, Deputy Chief Kristine Larson – head of the Equity and Human Rights Bureau – defended the fire department’s use of DEI hiring practices.

She then raised concerns that female firefighters may not be strong enough to carry a man out of a burning building, to which she simply replied, “He ended up in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.”

The comment infuriated many online as at least 16 people have died in the California fires, which have also wiped out an estimated 40,300 acres of land, 12,300 homes and other structures.

They also forced 180,000 people to evacuate and caused at least $135 billion in damage, which would exceed the damage of any hurricane to hit the United States except Katrina in 2005. according to the BBC.

‘Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department #KristineLarson should NOT be in her position when a tough guy is someone she wouldn’t even consider rescuing from a fire,” a California resident wrote on X.

‘She would be better off working at Walmart or McDonalds.”

Others focused on Larson’s comments in the video, in which he emphasized that residents want to be saved by someone they can identify with.

“You want to see someone who responds to your home, to your emergency — whether it’s a medical call or a fire call — who looks like you,” she said.

“It gives that person a little more comfort knowing that someone might understand their situation better.”

But many online said they don’t care what their rescuers would look like, and if they did, they would want someone who appears physically fit for the dangerous task.

“In a fire building situation, I can assure you that I don’t want anyone who looks like me,” wrote T Becket Adams, program director of the Young America’s Foundation’s National Journalism Center.

‘I don’t want Temu Philip Seymour Hoffman;’ he said, referring to the late actor.

“I want Ving Rhames to come in as the Kool-Aid Man,” Adams said of the Mission: Impossible star.

Conservative commentator Collin Rugg also responded to Larson’s comments.

“Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Kristine Larson says when people’s houses are burning down, they want a firefighter who looks like them to come,” he wrote.

“Hot take: People just want someone to show up and stop their house from burning down.”

Many online criticized Larson for her comments as massive fires continue to rage through the City of Angels

Some critics have even argued that the city’s focus on vigilante efforts has taken precedence over proper staffing and equipment of firefighters.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass even demanded that the fire department make another $49 million in cuts just one day before the devastating Palisades Fire broke out.

This cut is already on top of the $17.6 million in cuts in her last budget.

The additional cuts would have closed 16 fire stations and crippled the department’s ability to respond to emergencies, sources said.

Firefighters are battling the Palisades Fire, one of several simultaneous fires affecting Los Angeles County

The Palisades Fire reached more than 23,000 acres on Sunday evening

Meanwhile, some of the county’s wealthiest residents have hired private firefighters to protect their homes.

Still, wildfires continue to burn, with the Palisades Fire spanning more than 23,000 acres and the Eaton Fire scorching more than 14,000 acres as of Sunday evening.

The Hurst Fire in the city of Los Angeles is 76 percent contained, but the National Weather Service warned that wind gusts of up to 50 to 65 miles per hour could cause explosive fire growth on Monday.

DailyMail.com has contacted the Los Angeles Fire Department for comment.