Current Austin Fire Department numbers show AFD still has a way to go before it truly reflects the demographics of the city it serves. Among the uniformed staff, only 52 are female, 144 are Hispanic, and 48 are African-American – down from 59 three years ago.

The disparities go up in the higher ranks; of the 281 officers between lieutenant and battalion chief, there are just five African-Americans and four women.

Source: Austin Fire Department

AFD RANK Male Female Caucasian Hispanic African-American Other
Assistant Chief 5 – 3 1 1 –
Division Chief 4 1 5 – – –
Battalion Chief 35 – 33 2 – –
Captain 69 – 64 5 – –
Lieutenant 173 4 154 17 5 1
Specialist 184 12 163 23 10 –
Firefighter 453 35 348 96 32 12
All Ranks 923 52 772 144 48 13

This article appears in May 13 • 2011.

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