{"id":2438309,"date":"2025-05-23T09:14:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/citys-emergency-chief-blasted-as-dei-hire-after-they-them-left-tornado-siren-off-during-deadly-st-louis-storms\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T09:16:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:16:46","slug":"citys-emergency-chief-blasted-as-dei-hire-after-they-them-left-tornado-siren-off-during-deadly-st-louis-storms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/citys-emergency-chief-blasted-as-dei-hire-after-they-them-left-tornado-siren-off-during-deadly-st-louis-storms\/","title":{"rendered":"City&#8217;s Emergency Chief Blasted as DEI Hire After &#8216;They\/Them&#8217; Left Tornado Siren Off During Deadly St. Louis Storms"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcitys-emergency-chief-blasted-as-dei-hire-after-they-them-left-tornado-siren-off-during-deadly-st-louis-storms%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2438309&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The text discusses the recent failures of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-democrats-race-to-make-hurricane-ian-all-about-desantis\/\" title=\"Media, Democrats Race To Make Hurricane Ian All About DeSantis\">emergency management leadership<\/a> in St. Louis, drawing parallels too past incidents, especially referencing Kristine Larson, a former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/another-wave-of-portland-police-quit-amid-massive-spike-in-shootings-and-stabbings-fire-dept-responding-to-10-homeless-tent-fires-a-day\/\" title=\"Another Wave Of Portland Police Quit Amid Massive Spike In Shootings And ...abbings; ... Dept. Responding To 10+ Homeless Tent ...s A Day\">assistant chief<\/a> of the LAFD, who faced criticism for her comments regarding physical requirements for firefighters. The current focus is on Sarah Russell, the commissioner of the City emergency Management Agency (CEMA), who is under investigation after her team failed to activate tornado sirens during a deadly storm, resulting in five fatalities and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freedom-convoy-organizer-tamara-lich-released-from-jail-after-18-days\/\" title=\"Freedom Convoy Organizer Tamara Lich Released From Jail After 18 Days\">extensive property damage<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>RussellS absence from the office during the emergency was due to a workshop, which hindered timely communication necessary for activating the sirens. Mayor Cara Spencer emphasized the importance of CEMA&#8217;s role in alerting the public during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ercot-board-members-to-resign-after-texas-power-disaster\/\" title=\"ERCOT Board Members To Resign After Texas Power Disa...er\">severe weather events<\/a> and expressed concern over the failure to do so. <\/p>\n<p>Criticism surfaces about the prioritization of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives over practical emergency management preparedness, with the author questioning if such focus detracted from hiring qualified individuals for critical roles. The piece calls for accountability in the ongoing investigation to ensure better emergency management practices in the future.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s like Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Kristine Larson all over again.<\/p>\n<p>You may remember Larson as the face of how wokeness, among many other things, crippled Southern California&rsquo;s ability to respond to the cataclysmic wildfires that swept through Los Angeles and its suburbs early this year. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/las-dep-fire-chief-400k-year-dei-hire-said-blame-men-needing-rescued\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Larson<\/a>, who worked in the &ldquo;Equity and Human Resources Bureau&rdquo; at the LAFD and took home a salary in the mid-six figures, infamously mocked people who said women who didn&rsquo;t meet the same physical requirements as men might be a danger as firefighters.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You couldn&rsquo;t carry my husband out of a fire.&rsquo; Which, my response is, he got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">LAFD Assistant Chief Kristine Larson:<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Am I able to carry your husband out of a fire? He got himself in the wrong place.&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BofTVr6dWP\">pic.twitter.com\/BofTVr6dWP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EndWokeness\/status\/1877458240050446339?\">January 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;m not sure what Larson would have to do to not make that the one quote that we all remember about her contributions to public safety in a media-facing capacity, but I imagine even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/op-ed-woke-new-superman-comic-axed-dismal-sales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clark Kent<\/a> probably couldn&rsquo;t pull it off, much less someone talking about how your husband &ldquo;got himself in the wrong place&rdquo; if she had to rescue him.<\/p>\n<p>But Larson should cheer up, because now we have Kristine Larson 2.0: Sarah Russell, St. Louis commissioner of the City Emergency Management Agency, whose office exists, in part, &ldquo;to alert the community when severe weather is coming.&rdquo; Those aren&rsquo;t my words, that&rsquo;s the words of St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer.<\/p>\n<p>Russell and her team did not due this, apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/residents-horrified-discovering-sirens-remained-silent-deadly-tornado-descended-st-louis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">failing to activate tornado sirens during a deadly storm last week<\/a>. She&rsquo;s been put on leave as an investigation is conducted into why the sirens weren&rsquo;t activated.<\/p>\n<p>And, shocker of shockers, she&rsquo;s a nonbinary-identifying woman who was the only person on the St. Louis CEMA contacts page to list her pronouns &mdash; &ldquo;they\/them,&rdquo; <em>por supuesto<\/em> &mdash; before those pronouns were scrubbed in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stlouis-mo.gov\/government\/departments\/public-safety\/emergency-management\/profiles\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">update<\/a>. (The original still exists in <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20250316224342\/https:\/\/www.stlouis-mo.gov\/government\/departments\/public-safety\/emergency-management\/profiles\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">archived form<\/a>; apparently someone in St. Louis forgot the internet is forever.)<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let me be clear: CEMA exists to alert the community when severe weather is coming. This office failed to do that in the most horrific and deadly storm that our city has experienced in my lifetime,&rdquo; Mayor Spencer said during a news conference Wednesday, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/fox2now.com\/news\/missouri\/st-louis-mayor-cara-spencer-suspends-cema-commissioner-after-tornado-siren-failure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KTVI<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And, indeed, that&rsquo;s not hard to find via CEMA documents, which KSDK-TV&rsquo;s Mark Maxwell posted on social media:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">This CEMA document spells out who *should have been* responsible for sounding the tornado siren. The Commissioner of CEMA needs to answer questions.<\/p>\n<p>The confusing protocol Mayor Spencer alluded to: &ldquo;Sirens are activated at Fire Dept&hellip; OR CEMA.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Why didn&rsquo;t either one do it? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0SlWMn0Inq\">https:\/\/t.co\/0SlWMn0Inq<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/94dBLNXsbB\">pic.twitter.com\/94dBLNXsbB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkMaxwellTV\/status\/1924622490711527673?\">May 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Five people died and over 5,000 buildings were damaged during the EF-3 tornado, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/extreme-weather\/photos-before-and-afters-destruction-st-louis-deadly-tornado\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox Weather<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>And, pray tell, why weren&rsquo;t the alarms activated like they were supposed to be? Per KTVI:<\/p>\n<p><em>The investigation looks into why the CEMA staff, including Russell, were not in the office during the anticipated storms. Instead, <strong>they were attending a workshop at another downtown location<\/strong>, which left them unable to activate the sirens from the office. [Emphasis ours.]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Russell contacted the fire department to activate the sirens, but unclear communication led to nobody sounding the sirens. Mayor Spencer&rsquo;s office released audio of the call between Russell and a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >fire department dispatcher<\/a>, highlighting the ambiguity in the directive to activate the sirens.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yes, a&nbsp;<em>workshop<\/em>. How DEI could you possibly get? And not only that, Russell also has the Kristine Larson-worthy video clip of her trying to weasel out of the responsibility during a news briefing by hiding the fact that her team was in said workshop:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Great accountability questions from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shoshana_stahl?\">@shoshana_stahl<\/a> last night. Notice how it takes three times before CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell finally admits CEMA staffers were at a workshop when they should&rsquo;ve been sounding an alarm. Russell also blames fire dept, old battered sirens. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JvHSRqvX4A\">https:\/\/t.co\/JvHSRqvX4A<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9g7jCYBxJm\">pic.twitter.com\/9g7jCYBxJm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkMaxwellTV\/status\/1924630028106502340?\">May 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Another famous Missourian &mdash; and a Democrat, to boot! &mdash; used to have a sign on his desk, which said &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/museum\/exhibits\/hstr\/image\/obj\/buckstops.html#:~:text=President%20Truman%20had%20a%20no,the%20actions%20of%20his%20administration.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Buck Stops Here<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>One assumes Russell, <em>contra<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/victor-davis-hanson-using-bomb-japan-best-terrible-choice-president-truman-make\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harry Truman<\/a>, has a sign on hers which states, &ldquo;The Buck, Assuming There Is a Buck, Due to Budget Shortages, and We Are More of a 9-to-5 Department, So Don&rsquo;t Blame Us If Stuff Happens After Hours &mdash; And We Do Have Workshops to Deal With, Too, So Keep That In Mind &mdash; But That Buck, Should It So Exist, Does Not Stop With They\/Them, Should It In Fact Need to Stop.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>There will be an investigation by the City of St. Louis into Russell and CEMA, of course, and one assumes that it might actually be thorough &mdash; given that five people died and the buck needs to stop somewhere. However, how can one look at her craven, gutless answers during the media briefing &mdash; combined with the need to make sure everyone knows on the city website she uses &ldquo;they\/them&rdquo; pronouns &mdash; and not conclude that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/jasmine-crockett-roasted-appearing-admit-dei-hire-house-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DEI somehow seeped into this hiring process<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;m not an expert in hiring for the City Emergency Management Agency, but I&rsquo;d like to think that it involves testing whether someone has what it takes to, say, manage emergencies. (Kind of in the agency name, after all.) I&rsquo;d also say, based on available evidence, we can pass summary judgment on whether or not Russell lived up to her responsibilities this time around.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe, during this investigation, it might be profitable to ask whether we might have had more responsible judgment at Russell&rsquo;s level if a he\/him or a she\/her that was looked at for they\/their position was hired instead. Just saying.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s reminiscent of Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Kristine Larson. You might recall Larson as a symbol of how wokeness, among other factors, hindered Southern California&#8217;s response to the devastating wildfires that affected Los Angeles and its surrounding areas earlier this year. Larson, who was part of the &#8220;Equity and Human Resources Bureau&#8221; at LAFD and earned a mid-six-figure salary, infamously ridiculed concerns that women not meeting the same physical standards as men could pose risks as firefighters. She remarked, &#8220;You couldn&#8217;t carry my husband out of a fire,&#8221; adding that if she had to rescue him, he must have been in the wrong place. <\/p>\n<p>Now we have Kristine Larson 2.0: Sarah Russell, St. Louis commissioner for the City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), which is partly responsible for alerting residents about severe weather events. Unfortunately, Russell and her team failed to activate tornado sirens during a deadly storm last week and are currently under investigation for this oversight.<\/p>\n<p>In an interesting twist, Russell identifies as nonbinary and was notably the only person on CEMA&#8217;s contact page to list their pronouns-&#8220;they\/them&#8221;-before those details were removed in an update (though archived versions still exist). Mayor Cara Spencer emphasized during a news conference that CEMA&#8217;s primary role is to warn the community about severe weather threats but acknowledged their failure during one of the most catastrophic storms in recent memory.<\/p>\n<p>The EF-3 tornado resulted in five fatalities and significant property damage across over 5,000 buildings. The investigation aims to uncover why CEMA staff were absent from their office during such critical conditions; they were attending a workshop elsewhere instead of being available to activate emergency sirens.<\/p>\n<p>Russell did attempt to contact the fire department for assistance with activating sirens; however, unclear communication led to no alarms being sounded at all-a situation exacerbated by their attendance at said workshop.<\/p>\n<p>During media briefings following these events, Russell appeared evasive when questioned about her team&#8217;s absence from duty while trying to deflect blame onto others like outdated equipment or miscommunication with fire department personnel.<\/p>\n<p>As investigations proceed into both Russell&#8217;s actions and those within CEMA-especially given that lives were lost-it raises questions about whether hiring practices may have prioritized diversity over essential emergency management skills necessary for such roles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2438310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sarah-R.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[16574,55775,55778,55776,55777],"class_list":["post-2438309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dei","tag-emergencymanagement","tag-leadershipaccountability","tag-stlouisstorms","tag-tornadoresponse"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sarah-R.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2438309"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2438313,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438309\/revisions\/2438313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2438310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2438309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2438309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2438309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}