LA mayor removes fire chief from duty, citing wildfire response

Citing the response to the deadly Palisades Fire, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass on Friday announced that she has removed Kristin Crowley as fire chief effective immediately.

Bass said she was acting in the best interests of public safety and the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“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 a 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.”

Bass said she has called for a full investigation of everything that led up to Jan. 7, when both the Palisades and Eaton fires sparked, and the after action report Crowley refused to do is a "necessary" part of that process.

Crowley did not respond to a request for comment. The Los Angeles Fire Department declined an interview request.

Former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a more-than-40-year veteran of the department, has been named interim fire chief.

There will also be a national search for the next permanent chief, according to the mayor’s office. Meanwhile, the mayor's office said Crowley has exercised her civil service right to stay with the department at a lower rank.

At a news conference Friday, Villanueva said he watched last month's fierce firefight, and the love he has for the department is the reason he's coming back.  

"I just plan on moving forward," he said. " I want to move the department forward and take care of our firefighters."

Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva speaks to reporters Friday

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Facebook / Los Angeles Mayor's Office

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The move comes more than six weeks after the Palisades Fire started Jan. 7, killing 12 people and burning more than 23,700 acres. Days later in media interviews, Crowley described her department as understaffed — particularly with mechanics — and inadequately funded, hindering its ability to fight massive wildfires.

That prompted a closed-door meeting between her and Bass, after which they continued to appear together at new conferences, insisting that they were focused on firefighting and recovery efforts.

When asked about the city budget on Friday, Bass said, "The Fire Department was not cut."

She's also said in recent media interviews that Crowley did not inform her of the full scope of danger ahead of the wind storm that drove the fires. Had she, Bass said, she would have returned early from her trip to Ghana.

"Every time there was a weather emergency, or even a hint of a weather emergency, the chief has called me directly," Bass said Friday. "She has my cellphone. She knows she can call me 24/7, and she briefed me, and then we would talk about what needed to happen next. That did not happen this time."

Bass added that she didn't directly speak with Crowley until the evening of Jan. 7 — after the fires started.

However, warnings about the windstorm had been issued days in advance, and on Jan. 6, Bass posted about the potentially life-threatening event on X.

Criticism over Crowley being fired from her post came shortly after the announcement. In a statement, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said she was outraged by the mayor's "scapegoating."

“Chief Crowley remains the most qualified member of the Los Angeles City Fire Department that earned her well deserved appointment as Fire Chief," Rodriguez added. "I plan to use my authority as a Councilmember to set the record straight and encourage Chief Crowley to appeal the Mayor’s baseless termination to the City Council. The public deserves a full account of every single leadership failure that has taken place.”

The UFLAC Firefighters union also posted on social media that its members "strongly oppose" Crowley's termination. 

In an interview with LAist, Brian Fennessy, the chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, said he was "saddened" by the news, adding that he counted Crowley as a close friend and a "very good fire chief."

"It's a sad day," he said. "I've been a fire chief for 10 years, three in San Diego and seven here, and sometimes, you know, things happen sometimes within your control and outside of your control, but as the leader of the organization, changes sometimes have to be made."