Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has dismissed Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley, citing the chief’s handling of the Palisades fire as the reason for her removal.
“Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief,” Bass said in a statement Friday. She criticized Crowley for sending home 1,000 firefighters who could have been on duty when the fire broke out.
Bass also accused Crowley of refusing to conduct an after-action report on the fires, despite being directed to do so by the President of the Fire Commission. “These require her removal,” Bass stated. “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.”
Tensions between Bass and Crowley had been building since early January. While the Palisades fire was still raging on Jan. 10, Crowley told Fox 11 that Los Angeles—and by implication, Bass—had failed her department. She described LAFD as understaffed and underfunded, calling the situation “no longer sustainable.”
That same day, Crowley told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the department lacked mechanics to repair emergency vehicles. When asked if budget cuts had affected wildfire response, she responded, “I want to be very, very clear. Yes.”
Crowley was summoned to the mayor’s office hours later, missing Bass’s own wildfire emergency press conference. Though they continued to appear together publicly, tensions persisted.
This week, Bass and her team suggested that Crowley failed to alert the mayor about the severity of fire risks before she traveled to Africa. Bass was in Ghana on Jan. 7 when the firestorm erupted, returning the next day amid criticism for her absence.
Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl told The Los Angeles Times that Crowley had routinely called the mayor’s team ahead of severe weather events but did not do so before Jan. 7. In two television interviews this week, Bass said she hadn’t received enough information about the fire risk, adding that she would have canceled her trip had she known.
