Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has fired fire chief Kristin Crowley, blasting her response to January’s devastating wildfires, dramatically culminating weeks-long blame-game between the two.
The firing comes a day after Bass said the city’s fire officials were to blame for her lack of preparedness and availability during the blazes.
“We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch,” the mayor said in a statement Friday.
Bass – who herself was in Africa when the fires broke out early January – ripped Crowley for not holding personnel in reserve despite emergency-level fire conditions before the Palisades and Eaton Fires.
“A necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal,” Bass continued.
Crowley was called in for a closed-door meeting with the mayor after saying days after the fires ignited that Bass was at fault for the rapid spread of the wildfires.
“We are screaming to be properly funded to make sure that our firefighters can do their jobs so that we can serve the community,” Crowley had said.
Bass, Crowley, and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom have all faced relentless criticism from the moment the Palisades and Eaton fires ignited on Jan. 7th, incinerating tens of thousands of homes and becoming the most expensive wildfires in California history.
Among their sharpest critics was former water and power commissioner Rick Caruso, who dragged the mayor for defending the fire department and allowing fire hydrants in several burning neighborhoods to run dry on her watch.
Caruso said Bass, not Crowley, bears the blame.
“It is very disappointing that Mayor Bass has decided to fire Chief Kristin Crowley. Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD,” he said in a statement.
