LA City Council votes not to reinstate fire chief fired by mayor
The Los Angeles City Council voted against reinstating Kristin Crowley as its fire chief on Tuesday after she was fired by Mayor Karen Bass in the wake of the Palisades and Eaton fires.
The city council upheld Crowley's firing by a vote of 13-2.
Crowley appealed the mayor's decision nearly a week after her firing. The LA City Council held a hearing Tuesday where Crowley spoke and answered questions, but the council was not swayed to vote in her favor.
The fire chief denied Bass' allegations that she refused to conduct an investigation into the fires.
"I said that the LAFD is not capable, nor do we have the proper resources, to adequately conduct an after-action report for the Palisades Fire due to the sheer magnitude, scope and complexity of the incident. We are already understaffed, under-resourced, under-funded, and based on my knowledge of the LAFD's resources and capabilities, I recommended simply to collaborate with Gov. [Gavin] Newsom's already selected and funded agency, Fire Safety Research Institute," Crowley told the city council on Tuesday.
Crowley also said 1,000 firefighters were sent home the morning of the fires because LAFD did not have enough apparatus for them, denying another allegation made by Bass.
"We did not have enough apparatus to put them on. Because of the budget cuts and lack of investments in our fleet maintenance, over 100 of our fire engines, fire trucks and ambulances sat broken down in our maintenance yards, unable to be used to help during one of the worst wildfire events in our history," she said.
Crowley also denied that she did not inform the mayor of the dangerous weather event.
"The LAFD engaged in all of its standard communications, including emailing two separate media advisories, conducting multiple live and recorded media interviews about the predicted extreme weather and fire danger, and also notifying city officials about the upcoming weather events. The Emergency Management Department also plays a key role in notifying the mayor's office and city officials. And the mayor's office itself also set out multiple media messages prior to the fire's warnings," Crowley said.
Bass said she did not know the weather forecast before leaving for Ghana for a planned diplomatic trip before the fires broke out, saying the fire chief did not call to warn her. Bass has faced backlash for not being in the city when the fires broke out.
While she was removed from her position, Crowley will stay with the department, according to the LA Mayor's Office. Crowley exercised her civil service rights to stay with the department at a lower rank with duties to to be assigned by the new interim chief, the mayor's office said in a statement.
