LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six weeks after the most destructive wildfire in city history, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ousted the city’s fire chief Friday amid a public rift over preparations for a potential fire and finger-pointing between the chief and City Hall over responsibility for the devastation.
Bass said she is removing Chief Kristin Crowley immediately. “Bringing new leadership to the Fire Department is what our city needs,” the mayor said in a statement.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Bass said that Crowley had refused to do an after-action report on the wildfires.
“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,” Bass said.
Bass said Crowley has previously called her in advance of weather that raises fire risk, but that she did not do that in early January.
“She has my cellphone, she knows she can call me 24/7,” Bass said.
“The business of the fire department and the city will continue” while the search for a permanent replacement is underway, she said.
Bass said she and Crowley had a “very brief” meeting on Friday.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it had no comment about the ousting of the chief. “We are aware of the Mayor’s announcement and have no further comments or interviews on this matter at this time,” the department said in a statement.
The Palisades Fire began during heavy winds Jan. 7, destroying or damaging nearly 8,000 homes, businesses and other structures and killing at least 12 people in the LA neighborhood. Another wind-whipped fire started the same day in suburban Altadena, a community to the east, killing at least 17 people and destroying or damaging more than 10,000 homes and other buildings.
Bass has been facing criticism for being in Africa as part of a presidential delegation on the day the fires started, even though weather reports had warned of dangerous fire conditions in the days before she left.
In televised interviews this week, Bass acknowledged she made a mistake by leaving the city. But she inferred that she wasn’t aware of the looming danger when she jetted around the globe to attend the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama. She faulted Crowley for failing to alert her about the potentially explosive fire conditions.
Crowley has publicly criticized the city for budget cuts that she said made it harder for firefighters to do their jobs.
Crowley was named fire chief in 2022 by Bass’ predecessor at a time when the department was in turmoil over allegations of rampant harassment, hazing and discrimination. She worked for the city fire department for more than 25 years and held nearly every role, including fire marshal, engineer and battalion chief.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who was defeated by Bass in the 2022 election and has been critical of her wildfire management, called Crowley’s dismissal “very disappointing.”
The chief “spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD,” Caruso said in a post on the social platform X. “Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense.”
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