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ST. LOUIS 鈥� Sarah Russell, the city鈥檚 emergency management chief for four years, has been fired, officials said Wednesday.聽

No official reason was immediately given. But Russell had been on leave for months in the wake of the city鈥檚 failure to properly deploy storm sirens before the May 16 tornado. And on Monday, officials released the results of an outside investigation that sharply criticized Russell.

Russell did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Mayor Cara Spencer, who put Russell on leave, declined comment.

Jamella Brown, a city public safety spokesperson, did not comment on the firing beyond confirming it in an emailed statement.

鈥淲e remain committed to ensuring continued service and leadership within the department during this transition,鈥� Brown wrote.

Russell, who uses they/them pronouns, had led the City Emergency Management Agency since 2021.聽

Initial reports聽after the May tornado raised concerns that Russell had their staff at an off-site workshop, out of the office and away from a siren button, despite storm warnings that day. When the tornado warning came through, Russell called a fire dispatcher who could activate the sirens, but no action was taken. Spencer said CEMA had failed to do its job and needed new leadership. Russell was removed pending a fuller investigation.

That investigation, commissioned by the city and conducted by law firm Carmody MacDonald, was released Monday and cast further blame on Russell.

It said that as the weather worsened, a staffer asked Russell if one of them should return to the office and the siren button. Russell declined.聽

It also said Russell should have been clearer during the phone call to fire dispatch. Russell asked the dispatcher, 鈥淵ou got the sirens?鈥� But the dispatcher thought Russell was asking if she had received a cell phone alert about the tornado, and said yes without doing anything.

Investigators said the dispatcher should have been clearer with Russell, too. But even if the dispatcher had tried to trigger the sirens, they likely would not have sounded due to equipment problems, the investigation found.聽

Investigators also alleged mistakes after the storm. Instead of leading from the city鈥檚 emergency operations center, Russell drove through damaged areas to assess them. When staff reached the center, no formal response plan was ready 鈥� a lapse that investigators said caused widespread confusion across city agencies.

Investigators also said they were troubled by Russell's 鈥渞efusal during her interview to recognize the multiple failures or to take any personal responsibility for them.鈥�

The day after the report was released, Spencer said the report had merit and that she was looking forward to 鈥減utting in place a permanent, longtime, long-term director of the emergency management system.鈥�

Russell has defended themself in recent days on Facebook. On Saturday, they posted video of an appearance at a 2024 aldermanic hearing, about a request that included money for more staff and contractors to update emergency plans. They posted a shorter clip of Spencer at the same hearing talking about how CEMA鈥檚 budget was lower than similar agencies in peer cities.聽

Russell also said they faced a pre-termination meeting Monday to hear charges and offer defenses. They weren鈥檛 optimistic.

鈥淢y experiences tell me that it doesn't matter what I say,鈥� Russell said. 鈥淚t hasn't mattered since the tornado hit, and it didn't matter before that.鈥�

In a statement on Russell's dismissal, Aldermanic President Megan Green said that while the siren failure was unacceptable, the city should acknowledge CEMA had been asking for upgrades and more staff for years.

鈥淲e should have taken those recommendations seriously,鈥� she said.