Embatted Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is facing an onslaught of scrutiny over her management of the recent deadly wildfire outbreak in her city, has fired Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Kristin Crowley.
The move, according to reports, was due to Crowley failing to send firefighters to the Palisades and Eaton fires.
Mayor Bass said in a statement late last week that, under Crowley’s supervision, 1,000 firefighters were sent home while fires raged around Los Angeles, killing 29 people and destroying thousands of homes.
“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 in the statement.
“Furthermore, 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.”
However, Bass has been under intense scrutiny since the firet broke out in January, having been in Africa while much of the city was engulfed in flames.
Repors also say that Bass cut the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget by $17.6 million for fiscal year 2024 to 2025.
Bass recently announced that her trip to Africa while Los Angeles burned is being investigated by her own office.
“But I will tell you that I felt absolutely terrible about not being here for my city and not being here for my family who was impacted by the fires as well,” the mayor continued. “So when I say it was a mistake, absolutely, the idea that I was not present was very painful,” Bass said during an interview with Fox 11.
As for Crowley, she is a staunch supporter of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and supported an internal “racial equity plan,” which states that the [LAFD] is a stronger organization for focusing on the physical characteristics of its personnel.
Bass named an LAFD veteran Ronnie Villanueva as the interim Fire Chief to replace Crowley.