Mayor Karen Bass has dismissed Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley following the deadly Los Angeles wildfires last month.
Bass shared on Friday that she met “met with and removed Kristin Crowley as fire chief effective immediately” because 1,000 firefighters were sent home the day the fires broke out on Jan. 7. Former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva has been appointed interim fire chief.
“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 wrote in a statement. “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.”
She continued, “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. 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.”
Crowley’s firing also comes after Bass was scrutinized for the city and county’s response to the deadly wildfires that ravaged parts of Los Angeles, including the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Thousands of homes, structures and businesses were destroyed and more than two dozen people were killed, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office.
In the wake of the fires, Crowley also previously criticized the mayor for budget cuts to the fire department during an interview with FOX 11 Los Angeles. “My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded,” she said at the time. “It’s not.”
When pressed on if she felt the city’s leadership failed her, Crowley responded, “Yes.”
Bass, who was elected in 2022, has been slammed for reportedly cutting the city’s fire department budget by $17.6 million between the 2024-25 fiscal year and the 2023-24 fiscal year, CBS News reported. However, the city council and the firefighter’s union agreed on a four-year $203 million contract in November to help boost wages and health benefits for staff members, drawing from the budget’s general fund.
Crowley previously warned in December about the possible consequences of the budget decrease, writing in a memo, “The reduction … has severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.” But L.A. councilmember Bob Blumenfield’s office previously claimed to Politico that the fire budget actually has increased by $50 million year-over-year.