The former Los Angeles fire chief ousted by Mayor Karen Bass after the most destructive wildfire in the city's history sought Tuesday to reclaim her job, with unionized firefighters arguing that the chief was axed without justification after publicly criticizing City Hall for shortchanging the department.
The City Council was scheduled to vote on the appeal filed by former Chief Kristen Crowley, who was dismissed by Bass last month amid finger-pointing between Crowley and City Hall over responsibility for the devastation and funding for the department.
Crowley needed the support of 10 of the council's 15 members to reverse Bass' order and regain her job, which appeared to be a longshot.
At a City Hall meeting, council members heard a mix of reactions from residents, activists, city employees and others, with some supporting Bass' decision and others urging the panel to reinstate Crowley. The city's unionized firefighters were among her most vocal supporters, saying she had been scapegoated and fired for speaking honestly about the need for more staff and funding.
Although Bass praised Crowley in the early going of the firefighting effort, she said she later learned that an additional 1,000 firefighters could have been deployed on the day the blaze ignited. Furthermore, she said Crowley rebuffed a request to prepare a report on the fires that is a critical part of investigations into what happened and why.
“One-thousand firefighters who could have been on the job fighting the fires were sent home” on Crowley’s watch, Bass said last month.
The Palisades Fire began Jan. 7 in heavy winds. It destroyed or damaged nearly 8,000 homes, businesses and other structures, and killed at least 12 people in the Pacific Palisades, an affluent LA neighborhood. Another fire started that day in Altadena, a suburb east of LA, killing at least 17 people and destroying or damaging more than 10,000 homes or other buildings.
Bass has been criticized for being in Africa as part of a presidential delegation on the day the fires started, even though weather reports had warned of dangerous wind and wildfire conditions in the days before she left.
Bass has said Crowley never notified her of the looming danger before she departed, even though that was standard practice since she took office in December 2022.
