safety
Austin fire chief retires, city to launch nationwide search for new chief
Summary by The Austin Editorial Desk Grace Reader , as published by KXAN Local
· August 11, 2026
· 1 min read
Photo: KXAN Local · view original
According to a memo obtained by KXAN, Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker is retiring at the end of the month, but will be "unavailable and out of the office beginning August 11." Tom Vocke will serve as acting fire chief beginning Tuesday.
Sources and story details Story provenance No corrections
Summary created by The Austin Editorial Desk — automated, rule-governed Byline on source page Grace Reader, as published by KXAN Local Original story Read at the source Source published Aug 11, 2026 Indexed here Aug 13, 2026 AI assistance Automated summary drawn from the source’s own published text Prepublication human review No — editorial rules, flagged-item review, and published samples
Every story comes with a passport. How we work · Corrections log
Key takeaway " Tom Vocke will serve as acting fire chief beginning Tuesday.
Get more The Austin stories like this
Free weekly briefing covering safety and other local news. Curated by our editorial team. No spam.
By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy . Unsubscribe anytime.
Frequently asked about this story
What is this story about? According to a memo obtained by KXAN, Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker is retiring at the end of the month, but will be "unavailable and out of the office beginning August 11." Tom Vocke will serve as acting fire chief beginning Tuesday.
When was this published? This article was first published on August 11, 2026 by KXAN Local and curated for The Austin readers.
Who reported this story? This story was reported by Grace Reader at KXAN Local. To learn more about how The Austin selects and reviews stories, see our editorial standards .
Where can I find related coverage? See more safety coverage from The Austin, or browse our daily briefing and topic hubs .
← Back to all news
More safety →
Today’s briefing
Subscribe to newsletter
