Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has fired the city’s Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley effective immediately due to her handling of last month’s devastating Palisades fire, according to a statement released by her office Friday.
Bass said city officials have been notified that 1,000 firefighters available for duty the week several destructive fires broke out across southern California were instead sent home under the chief’s watch.
Additionally, Crowley refused to complete an after-action report on the fires after being directed to do so by President of the Fire Commission Genethia Hudley Hayes, a necessary step to launch an investigation, the mayor noted.
At least 29 people died in the fires last month and roughly 12,300 structures were destroyed.
“The heroism of our firefighters — during the Palisades fire and every single day — is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what our city needs,” Bass said in a statement, adding that she is replacing Crowley with former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year fire department veteran, who will serve as interim fire chief.
The revelation about the large number of firefighters not deployed was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper found in its own investigation that the fire chief did not deploy the 1,000 available fire personnel in addition to dozens of water-carrying engines.
Those first responders would have doubled the numbers fighting the flames, and would have staffed additional fire engines available to assist in the battle. The department employs 3,200 people.
The Independent has emailed the Los Angeles Fire Department for comment.
City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said she was working to gather enough votes in the City Council to overturn the mayor’s action.
“It’s absolutely unacceptable,” Rodriguez said. “The mayor clearly continues to change her posture. On January 7, she was praising the fire chief and her response, and then it appears, as the heat kicked up ... she [tried to] attribute blame to someone else.”
A rivalry between Bass and Crowley has existed since the early days of the fire. Bass faced backlash for being in Ghana on January 7 when the flames broke out. There had been warnings of severe winds that could potentially trigger major fire outbreaks days before her trip, but the mayor said fire officials didn’t notify her of upcoming fire weather.
Bass returned to Los Angeles the day after the Palisades fire ignited.
Crowley indirectly caused the mayor to become the target of added criticism after claiming the department’s response was “limited to a certain factor” by $17 million in budget cuts in interviews, calling operations “no longer sustainable.”
A significant percentage of Los Angeles County residents then began blaming Bass for the cuts. Her popularity dropped 43 percent, according to a conservative consultancy poll from Madison McQueen last month.
When appearing at news conferences together, Bass and Crowley said they were focused on extinguishing the fires.
Crowley was tapped to lead the department in 2022, becoming the city’s first female fire chief. She has 10 days to appeal her firing to the City Council. The mayor has the authority to remove department heads, but the City Council can challenge the decision.
